Once Upon a Time
by Bibee
Summary: Loosely based on the Disney movie Tangled.
1. Prologue & My Prison

**Prologue**

The fire underneath the mantlepiece was low and the room was filled with a dark light. A little girl with hair the same colour as the flames sat upon her mother's lap, a book in hand.

"...And the handsome young prince saved the beautiful princess from the dragons-keep, and they lived happily ever after. The End." Her mother said, closing the book with a muffled thump. "One day, _you_ will find your happily ever after.'

The little girl looked up into her mothers eyes, her green eyes young and innocent behind copper lashes. "Is that why you and Father are sending me away, Mother?" She asked as she played with the hem of her dress.

"Yes." Her mother answered softly, as her eyes began to fill with tears. "That is why you are leaving." The first drops landed on the rich satin of the little girl's dress, staining it a darker colour. "But when you return, you will be a beautiful Queen, _I know it_." She pulled her daughter into her and held her tight, not even noticing as the little girl's eyes fluttered closed and her breathing became deep and regular. The woman sobbed silently into her daughter's hair until the thick mahogany doors of the drawing room opened and a man stepped inside.

A head of salt-and-pepper hair was half hidden beneath a war helmet and armour stained with ash and blood covered him from head to toe. "Jocelyn,' He said, his tone grave. "It is time."

Silently the woman stood up, her daughter still in her arms, and exited the room, following the man down maze-like corridors where portraits of men and women lavishly dressed hung on the walls. From a distance, the sounds of battle could be heard. The woman pulled her daughter closer. "Will she be happy?" She asked, not taking her eyes off the sleeping face of the girl in her arms. "Where she is going, will she be happy?"

"She will be in one of the most remote areas of the kingdom, miles from the nearest town, and Lucian will look out for her. She will be perfectly safe." The man said, not turning as he spoke.

"You know that's not what I asked Valentine." The woman said. "I asked if she would be happy."

He didn't reply.

Once they exited a large pair of doors, the sounds of battle grew louder, the faraway crash of steel against steel raising hairs on the back of the woman's neck. They hurried now, half running through a stone-paved courtyard towards a man sitting upon a thunder grey steed, the hood of his black cloak drawn up.

Taking a last glance at the little girl's face, calm and unlined with the peace of slumber, she handed the girl to the armored man, who in turn handed her to the man upon the horse, who neighed impatiently.

"Quiet Balios," The man said soothingly as he rubbed the horses neck with one hand, the other holding the girl's body against himself. In the darkness of night, only broken by the haze of red and black smoke, it was almost impossible to make out the girl, the only hint, the single red lock that escaped from the man's cloak which she was hidden under.

"You will take her away from here?"

The hooded man bowed his head. "Of course, your Majesty."

The sounds came louder. Closer. They did not have much time until the battle was upon them. The man pulled a sword from a sheath, the metal reflecting the pale moonlight half obscured by black smoke. He scanned the courtyard, and seeing the dancing shadows against the courtyard passage walls, turned back to the woman. "Jocelyn, we do not have much time."

"Lucian." She whispered, locking her piercing gaze on the mounted man and pressing a crumbled, hastily wrote note into his hand. "Look after my little girl."

"Of course, your Highness." And he rode off.

The man pulled his wife after him and away from the soldiers advancing on them as the little girl disappeared into the darkness of night.

**Chapter One - My Prison**

My prison consists of one, _very_ large, circular room. The walls are a pale blue, almost the exact colour of the sky in springtime, and the floor is a light sand-coloured wood. My prison has one door, which opens out onto a small balcony, and exactly 6 pieces of furniture: A bed, a dresser, a mirror, a reed basket, a bathtub and a rosewood screen. My prison is a tower, approximately 5 stories high, in a clearing in a green forest. The pond about double the size of my one and only room is my one and only neighbour. My prison has no exit.

No, I'm not a criminal. I grew up here. This is the only home I have ever known.

I open my eyes again to what feels has been hours, but what has probably only been moments, and swing myself off the bed. It is night and a chill has settled in the air. I stand up from my bed and walk towards the balcony, my thin night gown no match against the crisp wind. The air whips against my skin and pushes my bedraggled red hair out of my face.

Behind me, my room is dark and silent, the only illumination the pale moonlight coming in from the balcony door. My silhouette stands alone in the light of the doorway.

I stare up at the moon, at the stars, at the dark expanse of the sky and take in a deep breath, the icy air sharp in my lungs.

In the distance, I can make out pin points of light, not pretty enough to be stars. The lights of the town. When I was younger, I had tried to wave to the village, to give them some sign that I was here, trapped. But I know now that there was no point in my efforts. I am simply too far away, too far out of reach, too far away in every aspect.

I know I do not live a normal life. I do not know how I know it, but I do. I feel as if a part of myself is missing, _has_ been missing since the morning I woke up here, 13 years ago.

It must be sometime after midnight, but I cannot sleep, just as I can't every year at this time. I feel that this day, this night perhaps, holds some significance in my subconscious.

I rest both of my hands on the cold marble of the railing and close my eyes. Perhaps in another world, I have a family. Maybe my father is a blacksmith, maybe my mother sews by candlelight, maybe I have siblings, cousins, grandparents, _great-_grandparentseven, that I know nothing of. Or maybe there is no chance of that and it is just me. Whoever that is.

O~o~O

Sunlight streams through the doorway and into the room, filling it with a golden light. The day looks cheery, bright. A perfect day for a walk in the town square or park. For some one else of course. Not me.

I pull myself out of bed and sit on the floor in the middle of the room, where my reed basket sits, empty of anything but dust. I close my eyes for a few moments, as routine, and open them again.

Now, the basket is filled with fresh fruit, all in colour coordinated layers. On the top sits a muffin with creamy coloured icing and atop that, a note written in spidery, elegant handwriting. _I thought you might need a pick-me-up, _it said.

I smiled as I picked up the basket and placed it on my dresser beside my many clay pots of paint, also sent by the same person who sends me my meals everyday. I have become fond of my messenger, and have affectionately named him Oliver.

Taking a bite out of the muffin and savouring the thick icing and the still warm insides, I begin to write a reply on the back of the parchment. _Thank you. Might I ask for some more paint?_ I tip the fruit onto my bed and replace it with the paper and return to my breakfast. When I look next, a different note has taken the place of mine. _Any special requests?_

After looking through my collection and checking my painting on the wall, I write back: _Bottle green._

The reply is almost immediate. In moments, a small pot, no bigger than my fist, has taken the place of the parchment.

This is a regular occurrence. On my first day here, I had found the basket, filled with various treats that day, and had made myself almost sick eating them. Then later that afternoon, after spending most of the day trying to catch the attention of the villagers in the far off town, I'd found the basket full again, not with treats that time, but a glass of milk along with a note. _You might want to wash that down with this_, it had read.

Now, I speak to Oliver everyday and he supplies me with meals. I may be wrong, but I believe what we have may be _friendship_.

I write a quick reply of thanks, get dressed in a simple, pale blue dress and hurry to my project: A mountain range, freckled with lush pines and dusted with snow that resembles the icing sugar on a cake that Oliver once sent me. The sky in the painting is blue and is only partially hidden by a bank of clouds that hover over the mountains peak.

I spend the next hour, maybe two, on the painting, adding the colour I asked Oliver for to highlight the shadowed side of the forest. I'm so immersed in the project that I almost drop the paint pot when a loud noise cuts through the silence of the clearing.

A voice, no, _two_.

I creep to the balcony doorway, making sure not to bump anything, and peek over the railing.

Down below, two figures, men, knock each other playfully on the shoulders. One, whose hair is black as ink, has a satchel thrown over his shoulder, which thumps against his hip. The other, with hair that shines in the sun like glass, has a hand shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun. He is also looking right at me.

I duck away from the doorway as quick as I can and hold my breathe as their voices echo through the quiet.

"Jace, what are you doing?" One says

"I-uh, nothing. I just though I saw something up there." In my mind, I imagine them climbing up the tower, taking me hostage, _killing_ me.

_Oh dear God._

"If you want, we can stay here for a while. Maybe there's some food up there."

I hear a thump, like someone kicked the bottom of the tower. I go stiff all over.

"Not a bad idea Alexander."

Now there is a sound like whirring wind, then a clunk as a 3 sided hook latches onto the marble railing, and then another.

I back away from the doorway, my heart pounding in my chest so hard, I fear it might just burst through my ribs. I look around hastily, I can hear their footsteps as they climb the face of the tower and I spot the rosewood screen. As fast as my feet will carry me, I run to the screen, almost tripping over the hem of my dress as I did so, and hide behind it, just in time.

They climb over the railing, grunting and panting, and stumble into the room.

This close up, I can see that the dark haired boy is shorter than the other and more wiry, though he has the same broad shoulders as the blonde boy, who is examining my project with odd intensity. I wince as he slides his finger across one of the freshly painted trees, smudging my hard work. He rubs the finger and his thumb together.

"It's still wet," The dark haired boy observed, glancing at the blonde's damp fingers. He picks up my half eaten muffin and tosses it to the blonde, who takes a large bite.

"Anwar." He says through a mouthful.

"What?"

"And warm." He repeats after swallowing the bite.

The dark haired boy has his back to me, looking through my art supplies: My brushes, paint pots, old works I did on canvas' Oliver sent me. This is my chance.

Behind me is the bathtub, and on the bathtub ledge, an iron backed mirror.

Quietly, I pick up the mirror by the stem. Both boys have their backs to me, mumbling about who knows what, I'm focusing so hard on keeping quiet I barely hear their chatter. I'm behind the dark haired boy now and I raise the mirror high over my head before bringing it down with all my strength on the boys head.

With a yell of pain, the boy crumbles to the ground unconscious.

The blonde boy hears and whirls around and sees me standing over his companion, breathing heavily with the mirror tight in my grip.

All shock drains from his features and my mouth opens into a startled O. I never saw his face clearly from behind the screen, but know I have a perfect view. His cheekbones are high and his face is all angles and planes and his eyes are a luminous gold, I think absently how I would paint him if I had the chance, mostly black and white with gold on his eyes and hair. "Well," He says, "That was unexpected."


	2. A Fiery Young Maiden

**Chapter Two - A Fiery Young Maiden**

I may not be terrifying to behold, with my iron mirror and flaming red unbrushed hair. To be completely honest, I probably look like a mad woman. But I expected at least _some_ shock on the boys behalf. It is not everyday one is ambushed by wild-haired women.

Then again, perhaps this boy _is_ ambushed by women on a daily basis. It wouldn't surprise me, he is very handsome.

"What are you doing here?" I demand, taking a hesitant step forward.

"I could ask you the same thing." He takes a step forward and into a patch on sunlight, which sets off his golden hair and eyes.

It takes just about all my strength to stand my ground and not rush off to experiment with the pretty metallic paint Oliver sent me last week. I take another step forward, matching his. "Well, I asked you first." I reply with indignation.

He takes another step forward, a smirk on his lips. Now he is right in front of me, barely 3 inches away. "I'm not the one who just knocked a man unconscious am I? So I believe that _you_ will be the one answering first, for recompense reasons of course."

This falters my guard and the hand holding the mirror drops to my side, the mirror clattering to the floor. I take a step back and trip over the other boy's body on the floor. In my fall, I must've kicked the satchel, because know the hatch is open and something is glimmering within it.

My eyes flicker to the conscious boy, who is looking between me and the bag with rising panic.

Without a second thought, I dive for the satchel and snatch it away before the man can even move. "Now," I pant. "_You_ will answer the question. _What are you doing here_?"

A war is fighting behind his eyes, there is obviously something in this bag of great worth to him. I shove my hand inside and my fingers close around cold metal, I pull it out and suck in a breath.

In my hands is the single most beautiful item I have ever set my eyes upon. It is circular and made of delicate silver, with beautiful metal work swirls and, as the centerpiece, a gorgeous jewel the same green as the paint I had asked Oliver for this morning. A wave of deja vu crashes over me as I stare at my reflection in the beautifully cut jewel. "What is this?" I whisper.

"Nothing you need to worry about." He replied sternly, his golden eyes hard.

The boy on the floor starts to murmur and the blonde immediately goes to his aid, completely ignoring my presence as I continue to stare into my own reflected eyes.

"Alec," The man said, pushing dark hair out of the other boys' face. "We may have a problem."

"What?" The boy, Alec, slurred as he got up and leant back on his elbows. "Wha-what happened?"

"A fiery young maiden bashed your head in with a mirror."

"Very funny Jace."

"There is nothing funny about it, you might have a concussion." Jace said back with a smirk.

Alec looks my way, his eyes meeting mine.

"Uh, hi?" I say, giving him a smile wave.

His eyes harden like a sheen of ice on his blue eyes and a frown creases his mouth. "You weren't kidding, were you." He says, directed at Jace. His gaze finds the _thing_ in my hands and his mouth opens in shock. "What are you doing with that?!" He yells leaping to his feet.

Sitting on the ground, I look like a child before giants. I never quite realised how short I was... "You can have it back once you tell me what it is."

"I thought the deal was we tell you why we're here?"

"I changed my mind."

Alec pinches the bridge of his nose and Jace smirks at me. "It's a crown. Well, a tiara really." He says.

"And why do you have a tiara? Did you steal it?"

"No, well, yes. Sorta. We were hired to return it to it's original owners-"

Alec pushes him to the side. "Jace! Shut _up_!"

"There's no point in hiding it, what's she gonna do? It's two against one _and_ she's a girl."

At this I stand up and try to look menacing. "Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm weak." I hiss through gritted teeth.

"Actually, I think it does." He moves towards me with cat-like grace and takes the tiara from my hands. "And I believe that it is time we part ways, I would say it was nice meeting you, but it-"

"Where are you going?"

He looks at me strangely and tilts his head to the side, as if studying me. "The Kingdom not far from here."

I think of the town I see every day. Could it really be a _Kingdom_? And before I know it, I'm saying, "Take me with you."

Both of the boys, Alec, standing on the balcony, and Jace, one foot over the ledge, look up at my outburst. "What?" They say in unison.

"Take me with you," I repeat, softer this time. "I've lived here 13 years. You are the first people I have ever spoken to and I want more than this." I say, my voice regaining its power as my rant continues. "I don't want to live here for the rest of my life. I don't want to die alone with no one to ever know I even existed. _I want a life_." The last words come out with such longing, I can almost feel it suspended in the air. "Take me with you. _Please_." I can't bear to meet their eyes, so instead I stare at the wall as tears gather in my eyes and fall to the ground.

A sigh breaks the quiet. "Alec," Jace says. "I'm going to need your help getting her down."

O~o~O

"You want me to climb down _that_?" I ask, staring at the rope dangling from the marble ledge. Alec is on the ground, one hand in his pocket and the other shielding his eyes from the sun, staring up at us.

"It's easy, really." Jace says. He is on the opposite side of the ledge, preparing to make the descent down. "All you have to do is hold onto the rope, entwine your legs around it and make your way down. Simple."

"Yeah, for you." I mutter under my breath.

"What is this?" He asks, feigning horror. "Did you just say I can do something you _can't_? Could it be perhaps that you're a _girl_?"

I set my jaw and gesture at him in a very unladylike manner, he only smirks. I watch as he makes his way down the rope with ease. I can almost imagine him, a fallen angel, descending from the heavens. I shake away the thought and continue to study his technique. When he reaches the ground, he bows and grins up at me, the look in his eyes saying _go on, I'm waiting_.

I take a deep breath and climb over the railing, making sure to position myself in a way that would not give the boys below a direct view of my under garments. My heart is pounding in my chest, I can feel my pulse like a drum beat and my palms are sweating. I wipe them on the fabric of my dress and clutch onto the rope for dear life, doing as Jace instructed and wrapping my legs around the rope.

I begin to make my way down, not daring to look below me. Just as I'm getting the hang of it, a noise makes my heart leap into my throat. _Tearing_.

I look up and see the rope is unravelling, ripping at a point above my head. "Oh dear God," I murmur, my voice shaky and unstable. "Jace, the rope, it's breaking!" I yell.

I hear a chorus of curses as I cling to the rope, terrified of falling to my death.

"Uh, girl, whatever your name is, climb down _now_!" He shouts, panic in his voice.

"_I can't!"_ I shriek at the top of my lungs, my palms are sweaty again and my grip is faltering. "Help!"

"Calm down!" He shouts. "Just climb down, I know you can."

I glance up at the tearing rope, it is just strands away from snapping. A whimper escapes my mouth.

I close my eyes and the rope snaps.


	3. Fairfolk and Clary Sage

**I just realised that for the last 2 chapters I haven't put up any A/N...**

**Well, hi. For anyone new to FanFiction, WELCOME! To anyone addicted to FanFiction, WELCOME BACK! I really hope you enjoy this chapter, so read on!**

* * *

**Chapter Three - Fairfolk**

The feeling of falling is horrible. It feels like your insides are coming to life inside you and the helplessness you feel is just as bad. Knowing that no matter how hard you flail or how loud you scream, it won't stop you from eventually hitting the ground.

But that doesn't stop me from trying.

A scream escapes my lips the moment the rope splits in two and I plummet to the ground. _This is it_, I think,_ this is how I'm going to die._ It's quite ironic really. The day my opportunity to escape my wretched tower arises is the same day I fall to my death.

I grasp at empty air as I fall to the ground, my dress flapping around me like wings. I can sense the ground drawing nearer and I brace for the impact.

My breath is knocked out of me, but that is all. I've hit _something_, but it is not the ground. Something, some_one_ is holding me.

I open my eyes and look up and meet golden eyes, the eyes the colour of honey, filled with worry and shock. Jace's eyes. Gingerly, he puts me down but keeping his hands on my shoulders to steady me. "Are you okay?" He asks, his voice soft and lovely. Perhaps it may just be the shock of my ordeal, I doubt it, but I feel that Jace's hands linger on my shoulders longer than necessary.

I nod and hear Alec snort.

"She's fine Jace, com'on, we have to get moving." He says bitterly before storming away.

"Alec," Jace says, a grin paying on his lips.

He doesn't turn around.

"Alec." He says again, this time drawing it out so it sounded more like Al-eh-k.

Still he doesn't turn around and the Jace's grin is growing, I begin to wonder what could possibly be so funny about Alec leaving us in the clearing.

"_Alec_!"

"_What!?"_ He spins around, his face and eyes blazing, a scowl set onto his face.

Jace starts walking away in the opposite direction to Alec, the grin still on his lips. "You're going the wrong way."

O~o~O

Grass is strange. For years of my life, I've been looking out that tower door, wondering what things felt like, what they were made of, how they smelled. After walking barefoot for 4 hours, I've become very acquainted with grass and dirt, but it still puzzles me, as everything in this world does.

I can tell that Alec and Jace, probably more Alec, are getting frustrated by my constant stops to inspect things like bark or an abandoned well. But when I spot a beautiful purple and white flower, I simply cannot resist the urge to study it. "Just wait a moment." I mutter to the boys, who have been talking about some dance in the kingdom at the moment with eager tones.

The chatter stops as I kneel before the flower. The petals are a peculiar shape, circular and curved to a point, white in colour with purple edges, it is beautiful. I caress the plant, its petals soft against my fingertips. "What is this?"

Jace sits down beside me and gives me an odd look. "It's Clary Sage. Some say that eating its seeds will allow you to see the Fairfolk."

"Fairfolk?" I ask, not breaking my gaze with the beautiful flower.

A can hear the grin in his voice. "Faeries. If you believe in that kind of stuff."

A look at him now. "You don't?"

His eyes harden slightly and for a moment I expect him not to answer, but he says, "No, I don't. I believe in myself and I needn't worry about anything else. There may be such thing as Faeries, maybe even a God, but either way, we're on our own." His voice is distant, though not exactly cold. He stands up and holds a hand out for me to take, which I do.

It surprises me how well our hands fit together, like they were carved from the same origin. It seems he is surprised as well.

Alec clears his throat ahead of us. "We should keep going." He says, his voice tight.

I begin walking and Jace, surprisingly, walks beside me instead of Alec. Alec also notices and stalks away. I can almost see the steam escaping his ears.

"I don't think Alec likes me very much." I mutter to Jace.

"Oh, I wouldn't go _that_ far. He simply has a grudge against most women." He says with a smile, he really does have a beautiful smile. "Isn't that right Alexander!" He shouts, cupping his hands to magnify his voice to the faraway figure who I have to assume is Alec. If Alec hears Jace, he doesn't acknowledge the comment.

The next few minutes we walk in silence, a nice silence, not awkward. I look at the many interesting natural wonders that surround us as we walk and Jace puts names to them for me, laughing when I have trouble pronouncing them. It is nice. I never thought that I would ever laugh or talk with another human being. It simply was not in the world that came with my imprisonment.

"Do you?" He asks abruptly.

I'm caught off guard and have no idea what he is talking about. "Pardon?"

"Do you believe in anything?" He clarifies.

I think for a moment. "I don't know. Faeries may exist, who knows. Maybe we are a part of their world but blind to it. Maybe those who people say are crazy are really seeing the world as it is. Beautiful and deadly. Anything is possible."

He is quiet and I worry I may have said something to offend him, though I can't imagine what. "You're really strange, you know that?"

I furrow my eyebrows and look at him to see if he is joking, but he is calm and quite serious. "Why do you say that?"

"You've spent _years_ locked away from the world, yet you seem to trust it more than anyone I have ever met. You're not angry at the world _or_ the person responsible for locking you away. You understand and see things with a beauty that I can't understand or quite comprehend."

The path we have been following widens slightly and the trees begin thin out, the sun shines over head like a cheery companion.

"I see no point in being angry." I say quietly. "Why waste all that emotion on something so little as anger? I let go of that feeling long ago, and honestly, does is matter anymore? I'm free, I'm finally living." I skip ahead and twirl around, my head spins when I finally stop and Jace has to steady me so I don't fall down. "The world is beautiful. You simply cannot see it as I do because you have been living among it your entire life, while I have always been apart from it. Always on the outside looking in." I look into his eyes and see he is looking at me like he doesn't understand. "The world is beautiful, Jace." I repeat. "You just can't see it."

"_Will you two hurry up!"_ A voice shouts in the distance.

We both look and see a very frustrated Alec standing in the middle of a clearing, not very big, but big enough. We run to catch up to him and the boys start to walk in different directions.

"Wait, where are you going?" I ask, half frantic with the idea that they may be abandoning me alone in the woods.

Alec rolls his eyes. "Calm down, we're just getting firewood."

"Oh, right. Sorry." I look down at my feet and knit my hands together.

"Hey," Jace says, making me look up. "Just, stay here, okay?"

"Okay."

O~o~O

'Staying here' is harder than it sounds. I sit on a log and play with the fabric of my dress, the hem now tattered and stained with dirt, and let out another sigh. It's very tedious, waiting for the boys to return. And I have the distinct feeling that Alec wishes he didn't have to.

A rustle to my side catches my attention and my head jerks to the origin of the noise. A small, chestnut brown animal hops out of the bushes that encircle the clearing and wiggles its nose. It is very cute, with long, floppy ears and intelligent brown eyes that seem almost black.

I stand from the log and take a small step forward and the animal bolts away into the underbrush. "Hey," I call. "I'm not going to hurt you." I run after the creature and through the trees, constantly on the look out for a flash of brown fur.

After who knows how long of searching, I become acutely aware of the sound of flowing water. I follow the sound and come out onto a stream, water rushing over the different coloured stones. A large rock cuts halfway through the creak, big enough for someone to sit on I notice, so that's what I do.

I watch as the water flows down stream and into the distance, vaguely aware of the fact my hem was hanging in the water. A peculiar blue stone catches my eye and I carefully pluck it out of the water.

It is strangely vibrant for a stone and it gives me an idea.

I rub the still dripping stone on the rock I sit upon and it leaves behind a blue-white mark. _This could be interesting_...

O~o~O

I crush the rest of the white stones I found near the centre of the stream until they resemble a creamy paste and add them to the picture. After seeing that using the stones I could make a sort of coloured mixture, I set straight to work finding the appropriate colours for my piece.

After adding the white, I stand up and look down on my work. When I had first seen him, his eyes had been the first thing that had caught me off guard, they were so vibrant, so _unique_. Now, looking over my work, I see that my stone selection can only be described as perfect.

"Hello! Are you out there?" A voice rings out, not far from the creak.

At first, my instinct is to hide, but then I realise that this voice is not one of a stranger, but Jace. "I'm over here." I yell out.

Moments later, the sound of twigs snapping and branches being brushed away announces his arrival. "I thought I told you to stay at the campsite." He says, clearing weary from what I guess has been a long search.

"You did." I admit. "But I saw this little creature by the bushes and it ran off, so I followed it-"

"Wait." He says, coming to stand in front of me. "You followed a wild animal into the woods, _without anyone to go with you_?"

"Yes."

At this I see that he is fighting to remain serious, his mouth has gone firm and it looks like he is trying not to laugh. He looks down and sees my stone-painting. "Did you do this?"

I look down to and shrug. "Yeah, I guess so."

He sits down beside the drawing and dabs his finger in the still wet white stone-paint. "How?"

I join him on the ground. "I found a pretty stone, so I started scratching it on the ground and the colour came off." I shrug again.

"Yeah, but really? Alec?"

I look to the piece again. The pretty blue stone-paint I used for his eyes is starting to dry and the black is smeared slightly where Jace touched it. "I though it might make him like me better. And also, I've been dying to draw his eyes." A smile slips onto my face as I talk about Alec's eyes. "They're just so beautiful and expressive. Like when he looks at you, they're like a warm lake, alive with movement, but when he sees me," I laugh a little. "It's like a sheet of ice lowers over it."

"What about my eyes?" He says with mock indignation. "How would describe mine? Luminous, radiant-"

"Weird."

He scoffs and shakes his head. "Well, that one's new."

"No, I didn't stay that right." I search for the right word as he watches me, expectantly. "They're, they're strange. No, not strange, but, unique maybe? I don't know, I can't explain it."

He is quiet for a while as he watches the stream and turns a grey-blue rock over in his hands. For the first time I notice how nimble looking his fingers are, they're thin and long and callused. "We should probably get back to Alec." He says, not taking his eyes of the stream as he stands up and skips the stone across the water.

"Okay," I stand up and brush dust from the back of my dress. "If I bring Alec here to show him the portrait, do you think he might stop plotting to murder me in my sleep?"

"I doubt it."

O~o~O

"It's really pretty," I say as I gaze down at the jewel embedded in the tiara, the light of the fire reflecting in the cut gems surface. The sun went down a few hours ago and the moon hangs high in the sky, surrounded by stars. "But what's it for?"

Jace, who has been cooking rolls of meat he calls 'sausages' over the fire, hands the stick to Alec who shoots daggers my way with his cold, blue gaze. He sits down on the log beside me and takes the crown from my fingers and places it on my head. "It's supposed to symbolise royalty. This particular tiara," He says, tapping me on the head. "Was intended for the Fairchild princess."

"Was?"

"Yes. A decade or so ago, the Kingdom was attacked and the King and Queens daughter disappeared, along with her tiara. The King sent us - Alec and I - on a search and retrieve mission for the tiara and princess after discovering which Kingdom was responsible for the attempt invasion. But we could only find the crown."

"Wow," I say. "That's so sad."

He shrugs and smiles at the crown atop my head. "Yeah, I guess. But I gotta admit, it doesn't look too bad on you." He gently tugs a lock of my hair in his thin fingers. "I've got to start calling you Red." He says with a smile.

Alec snorts from across the fire pit. "She probably has some horrid name, like Gladys."

"Maude." Interjects Jace with a grin, then he frowns and looks at me. "What _is_ your name?"

"Um," I search my brain, what is my name? I've never really had use for one before, never had a need. "I don't know." I say with a shrug.

Alec snorts again. "She's probably a Downworlder spy, sent to take the crown." He mutters.

"Downworlder?"

"A term we use for the Kingdom that tried to invade all those years ago." Jace explains. He reaches around the fire, takes the stick back from Alec and pulls a sausage off. He holds out the stick for me and I take one. "What about Clary Sage?"

"The flower? What about it?" I ask around a mouthful of hot meat.

"I mean what we can call you Clary, you know, as a name. What do you think?"

"Clary," I say, trying it out. It's nice, simple, easy on the ears. "I like it."

"Well then," He says, taking the rest of my half-eaten sausage. "Clary it is."

"Clary," I repeat. I used to wonder as a little girl what my name might've been, but after the first year, I had given up trying. What was the point really? But now, I'm not a nameless girl, trapped in a tower and the world oblivious to her.

I'm Clary.

I'm free.

I'm ready to take charge of my life.


	4. I Know

**I am really surprised by how many people like this story! I was watching Tangled one day (I was sick and staying home from school) and thought ****_Hey, with a little Clace here, a sprinkle of Malec there and just a smidge of Sizzy, this could turn into a cool FanFic_****. And so Once Upon a Time... was born!**

**I am really happy that you guys like it and I would like to give a special shout-out to Maryam. Your review just made me feel all fluffy inside (as most reviews do) and I just love you so much for liking this story. Also, to Seabed, who I've noticed has either followed for favourited just about all of my TMI FanFics. And to anyone reading this... THANK YOU!**

**Okay, I'm going to stop rambling now... ON WITH THE STORY**

* * *

**Chapter Four - I Know**

SAY THANK YOU TO MARYAM

"For Gods sake woman, how long could it possibly take to gather some goddamn berries?" Jace shouts from a distance behind me.

The mornings events had been uneventful, if you didn't count me waking up soaked to the bone and Alec standing over me with an empty pail, but otherwise it was a very calm morning. The boys had cleared up the camp, the only evidence of our stay the blackened earth of the fire pit, and had soon started our journey to the Kingdom, which Jace informed me is called Idris.

Not long into our journey, I stopped the boys so I could pick some pretty dark blue berries. Perhaps blue isn't the right word for them, but they're a very nice colour and I simply couldn't resist.

"One moment," I say as I pluck one more black-blue berry from the bush and into a basket, supplied by none other than Jace. "There," I say, rising from my crouch and skipping to catch up to him. "That wasn't so horrible, was it?"

"On the contrary, that was possibly the most painful process I have ever withstood."

"You're such a baby." I retort as I roll one of the pretty berries between my fingers. The juice stains my finger a dark purple. "How odd," I mutter under my breath. "Blue-black in colour, but purple juice. Quite strange."

Jace, who seems to not have heard me, takes a berry from the basket and examines it. "How do you know these aren't poisonous?" He asks as he sniffs it.

"I don't," I say, taking the berry back from him and throwing it back into the basket. "I want to use it to make paint."

Jace looks like he might just throw his face into his palm. "Why," He asks incredulously. "Would anyone ever perform such a tedious task as berry picking, _just_ to squish them down and use them to paint?"

I decide to ignore his question and instead skip ahead, swinging the basket merrily. I skip past Alec and can practically feel the daggers he is throwing with his eyes. I laugh as a pair of birds swoop past, their feathers a blur of red, blue and green. I spin around and giggle like a little girl until something stops me short.

A growl.

In my surprise, I stumble to the ground, by mind still spinning and my eyes unable to focus on anything. Finally, I am able to see what could have possibly made the noise. I freeze in place.

A wolf stands before me. Its back is hunched and it is baring its teeth, its fur is the colour of storm clouds heavy with rain and reflects the light filtering through the trees like silver. I should be terrified and screaming for my life, and in a way I am, terrified that is. But there is just something about the creature that looms in front of me that is beautiful, a sort of wild loveliness. A feral gleam flashes through its eyes moments before it lunges at me.

Distantly, I hear someone shout out. The wind is knocked out of me by the incredible force of the wolfs leap and soon I am struggling underneath it. I can smell its hot breath in my face as it snaps its jaws at me.

My hands are pushing against it, trying to lift its surprisingly heavy weight off me as it continues to snap at me with razor sharp teeth.

I can't breathe. The air having been knocked out of me, hasn't returned and I am suffocating under the wolfs weight. My eyelids feel heavy and my struggles are weakening as my head starts to spin and the corners of my vision goes black.

Out of nowhere, the weight disappears and the heart breaking sound of a wounded dog replaces it. I can see Jace standing a small distance away. His chest is heaving and he has his back to me. My brain slowly registers the sword tight in his grip, dripping with blood. I begin to wonder where the blood has come from when I see what lies as his feet.

A ragged breath races into my lungs at the sight, as I see the light leave its eyes. The wolf. I scramble backwards as tears gather in my eyes. _It's dead. It's dead. It's dead._ "You-"

"Clary," Jace says, his voice low and worried. I don't understand how he can be so calm, he just killed an animal. He just ended a life, and he was worried for me.

"You killed it." I choke out, my throat swelling with unshed tears.

"Yes." He says, not missing a beat and I flinch.

There is not one ounce of regret in his voice and it makes my stomach twist to even momentarily move my gaze to the dead wolf on the ground, it's once beautiful coat now soaked in blood. Its own blood.

"Clary-" He says again, but I don't let him finish.

"Don't come near me," I scramble away from him and to my feet, backing away from Jace and the wolf and its lifeless, staring eyes. "Don't come near me." I repeat, barely a whisper as I run off into the woods.

O~o~O

Water runs over my feet which dangle in the fast-running stream. My knees are up to my chest and I rock slowly back and forth as I try to forget the sound of the dying wolf. I still can't quite comprehend what's happened. One moment I'm picking berries talking easily with Jace and the next I'm running away from him and his blood soaked blade. Along with the wolfs last sounds of pain, I try to forget the look on Jace's face, the sound of his voice, as he accepted his crime against nature.

He killed it. He killed it and didn't even think twice about it. He makes me sick.

I wring my hands together and see my cuff drenched in blood. With I whimper I dunk my whole hand into the water and scrub furiously at the sleeve and let the tears flow freely and sob so hard it becomes hard to breathe. I can taste tears in the back of my throat.

The snapping of twigs and the rustle of leaves announces someones arrival.

"Come any closer and I'll drown myself in the stream." I say coldly, scooting closer to the cool water.

"Very tempting, but that's not why I'm here." The voice answers. I immediately recognise it as Alec's.

"What are you doing hear?" I ask as he takes a seat beside me.

"I figured you'd rather not talk to Jace at this moment in time."

"Whatever gave you that idea?" I reply bitterly. _I would rather never see that horrible, vicious, golden, funny, sincere... _I shake my head as if to clear it and look at Alec.

His eyes are focused on the flowing water and he sits with his knees trapped in between his arms. He is beautiful in a way so different to Jace, but it is beauty all the same. He could be possibly more beautiful if it wasn't for the constant gloomy expression he wears.

"I just," Fresh tears bloom in my eyes and roll down my cheeks. "I just don't understand how he could do it."

"He did it to protect you." Alec says, not without a touch of bitterness. "If he'd done nothing you would have died."

"I know that, but," I blink rapidly and try to dispel the sob rising in my throat. "He didn't even blink." I choke out. "He didn't have a second thought about it. He just slaughtered it." My throat swells and the rest of my words disappear.

Alec wears a new expression, one I haven't seen on his face before and seems a bit out of place on his features. Sympathy. "He cares for you, you know." he says, his voice lacking its usual acidic tone whenever he talks to me. "He cares for you more than I like to admit."

I look away and stare at the suns reflected light on the water and wonder what would happen if I jumped in. Would I sprout fins? Would gills form on my neck? Would I be able to swim fast enough to escape this wretched feeling that threatens to crush me? I close my eyes and shake my head. "You don't know that."

"When he saw you and the wolf, I saw his face. You didn't. It was clearly written in his eyes, no matter how much I try to deny it. He cares for you in a way he hasn't cared for anything in a long time. Maybe ever."

I avoid eye contact with him.

"He did what he had to do to protect you." He says, his voice taking on a defensive tone. "Don't you think for a moment that he enjoyed what he did to that animal. He'll hate himself for days." His voice quietens when he realises that his voice has risen to a half shout. "And he'll hate himself forever if he thinks that you hate him too."

A thought comes to my mind and before I can stop myself it comes out. "You love him, don't you?"

A muscle in his jaw twitches and I expect him to deny it. But he doesn't. "I do."

"Does he know?"

"No." He says, his voice hardening to the equivalent of steel. "And he never will."

"Why not?"

He looks at my like I'm crazy, then smiles. "Sometimes I forget how little you know of the world." He sighs heavily and wrings out his hands. "The way I care for Jace isn't exactly smiled upon."

I scoot closer to him and turn my head to the side. "But you love him. Love is beautiful. How can anything beautiful not be accepted?"

He narrows his eyes and smiles again. "Sometimes I wonder about you. You admire the most simple things like they're something dangerous or precious or both, but you seem to know so much. How are you supposed to know that love is beautiful."

I shrug. "I just do."

O~o~O

It is dark by the time Alec and I are done talking, and I may be wrong, but I think by the time we decide to leave the stream we are friends. Alec tells me that he left Jace to set up camp a while away as we walk through the woods, weaving our way through the tall trees. At some point in our trek I trip over something, a rock I think, and hurt my ankle. And to my great surprise, Alec offers to piggy-back me the rest of the way.

I'm starting to wish I tripped earlier in the trip, because this is awesome.

I see light ahead and tell Alec, he tells me that this is where Jace was supposed to set up camp and sure enough, when we break through the tree-line, I see Jace.

He's sitting alone on a log, staring into the fire with a solemn expression.

My heart lurches inside my chest at the sight of him and the phantom whisper of my last conversation with him rings out in my mind. _Don't come any closer_.

Jace still hasn't noticed us as Alec sets me down on the ground. he seems to be deep in his own thoughts.

I clear my throat and his head jerks to my direction. His eyes light up in a beautiful way that tugs at my heart, and then they darken and he looks away, returning his dark gaze to the fire.

I look to Alec and he encourages me with his eyes. _Go on,_ they say, _talk to him._ And before I can say a word, he's gone. Escaped into the darkness of the woods.

It's just Jace and me. Him, in a melancholy mood and me nervous and scared out of my mind. Will he be angry at me? Is he ashamed of what he did.

An evil part of me hopes he is ashamed, but I push against it. The only reason he ever touched it was to save me. "Jace-"

"Don't." He snaps, not taking his eyes off the flames.

"But Jace-"

"Just don't say anything." He finally is able to meet my eyes. The fire reflects in his eyes like it is hidden behind them. "I know what I did was wrong and," He breaks off and looks at his hands like they hold the secrets of the universe. "I wasn't thinking."

Hesitantly, I sit down beside him. I reach out and try to take his hands, but the moments I touch him he flinches like I've burned him. I can't help but feel my hopes deflate.

Noticing my saddened expression, he grabs my hand and gently holds my chin so I have to look him in the eyes. "I am so very sorry." He whispers.

I can feel his breath against my face and a shiver runs down my spine.

"I wasn't thinking. I only saw the thing on top of you and, I-I just-"

I place a finger over his lips to silence him and am surprised by how soft they are. "I've already forgiven you." I whisper back.

His shoulders sag in relief and he lets go a breath. "You," He says with a rueful grin. "Are the most amazing girl I've ever met."

I think back to my conversation with Alec and smile. "I know."

* * *

**So what are you guys thinking?** **Did you like the D'n'M between Clary and Alec? Was this chapter just too, ****_meh?_**

**I hope not. But don't forget to review and follow and all that jazz!**

**(A little note to Serenity Shadowstar: I am really sorry, but I don't want Clary to have any ****_powers_**** or such. BUT YOU HAD SUCH A GOOD IDEA! So I want to let you know that, if you want to, you can do a spin-off or alternate ending chapter of this story. I'm giving you permission.)**

**Until next time my pretties!**


	5. In a Land of Giants

**Hello everyone!**

**If you are reading this it means you have made the brave and treacherous journey from Chapter 4 to Chapter 5. If anyone needs medical attention, please seek immediately.**

**Anyway, this chapter is more of a filler than anything, but today is the day they ARRIVE AT IDRIS****_._**** So it would be wise NOT to skip the chapter simply because it is a filler.**

**Oh! Quickly so I don't forget, I would just like to make it loud and clear that this story will have ABSOLUTELY NO LEMONS. Being 13, It would just be awkward and unsettling for everyone involved. **

**ON WITH THE STORY!**

* * *

**Chapter Five - In a Land of Giants**

I am happy to discover I am not woken up by a bucket of water, but a gentle pushing on my shoulder. I groan and roll over, away from the insistent pushing. "5 more minutes." I slur drowsily.

I hear a low rumble, like a chuckle. "We have to leave now if we're to get to Idris before sundown." Jace said, abandoning the pushing and instead poking me in the side.

"_Ouch_!" I shriek as I roll away from him and pull myself to my feet. Closing my eyes, I reach my hands up to the sky and stretch. When my hands go down and my eyes open, Jace is standing very close to me.

He looks down at me, a strange smile gracing his lips.

I frown and try to stand on my tiptoes. "Am I really short, or are you tall? Because I can't seem to figure it out."

His smile widens and he pats my head of red curls. "Alec and I are considered pretty tall-"

"Does this mean when I get to Idris I'm going to be surrounded by giants?"

"_But_, you are also considered quite small for a girl your age."

"You don't know how old I am."

"Do you?"

I pause and think. I remember snippets of my life before the tower, flashes of soft candlelight, the gleam of light against steel, a woman's smile. Those are my only memories of my _real_ life. I think I was about three when those things disappeared, replaced with the cold of solitude and loneliness with a magic basket as my only friend. If you add that to the 13 years I spent in the prison, then that leads me to think... "Sixteen." I say. "I think I'm sixteen."

Jace nods thoughtfully. "Alec's a year older than me and- Oh, speak of the devil."

I turn around and spot Alec walking through the tree-line, his head low and beaded with sweat. When he looks up and sees Jace and I his eyes widen and a huge grin crosses his face. Then he wiggles his eyebrows. Whatever that's supposed to mean...

"Could you see Idris from that hill?" Asks Jace over the top of my head.

Alec nods. "Yeah, about a half-day hike and we'll be at the gates."

"Well?" I say, gathering up the skirt of my dress and stomping past Jace and Alec and towards the Kingdom in the distance. "What are we waiting for?"

O~o~O

I wish there was a way for me to keep my hair off my neck. The sun is high in the sky and, the trees having thinned out greatly, is beating down on us heavily. I'm holding my hair, twirled loose knot on top of my head, with the other hand holding onto my dress as I march on forward. Being barefoot has its disadvantages, such as having to constantly look down to make sure you don't step on sharp rocks and such. It also makes avoiding low branches almost impossible. If it wasn't for Alec, I would most likely be unconscious by this point.

"Heads up." Alec says as he ducks under the branch.

Jace gives him a strange look and I avert my gaze from the ground just in time to duck down, though not as far as Alec had to.

I'm still a good head shorter than both him and Jace. _It's a hard life,_ I think with a small smile, _living in a land of giants._

"Since when are you two so close?" Jace whispers to Alec, but not very well. I can hear him perfectly.

"We've come to a sort of agreement," He says, shooting me a knowing grin which I return happily.

Jace, for some reason, doesn't look too thrilled by the idea of us getting along, but he says nothing.

I stub my toe on a rock and stumble a little bit, biting my lip in pain as not to cry out. Without me meaning to, the hand holding the knot of hair in place goes out to stop myself from becoming a little _too_ acquainted with the forest floor and my hair comes tumbling down my back. In moments, it feels like a roast is burning on my neck. I groan and stop to redo the knot.

Jace rolls his eyes. "Just wait a moment." He says as he bends down to pick up a small stick, no bigger than my index finger, and takes a small blade from a pocket somewhere on his person. He begins to sharpen the ends to a point and blows off the wood shavings, before poking it through the knot of hair.

I take my hand away and am surprised to find it stays in place perfectly.

Jace's hand lingers for a moment too long and when he meets my questioning gaze, he looks away and clears his throat. "There." And with that he starts walking back to Alec, who stands a few meters away, hands in pockets and one eyebrow raised at Jace.

Jace avoids his gaze too.

O~o~O

When we reached the gate to Idris, which is actually more of a bridge than a gate, Jace had insisted I stayed out of the way until he explained my situation.

I tried to tell Jace that I was perfectly capable of explaining my _own_ situation, but as I said, he insisted.

We had quite a heated argument about it, until Alec intervened and made a deal with me. When he got inside the Idris gates, he would introduce me to his little sister.

I've never met another _girl_ before, so I accepted the deal readily. But now as I wait in a meadow of yellow flowers, watching the boys talk with wide gestures to the impassive man, I am almost regretting the deal. I don't want to sit here like a baby as those two speak on my behalf. Idris may not even accept stray girls that its citizens find, they may be telling the Gatekeeper that I'm their cousins brothers _mistress_ for all I know.

I pluck a yellow flower from the ground and roll the stem between my fingers. I can see from here that Jace is doing most of the talking, with Alec interjecting a detail whenever he forgets. _Good job Alec_, I think,_ keep him honest._

I pull up more and more of the yellow flowers until a huge pile lays in my lap, and I'm not exactly sure what to do with them...

I push my thumb nail through one of the thicker stems, then I push another stem through the slit and smile to myself, this could be fun.

By the time Jace and Alec are done talking to the Gatekeeper, I have three of the flower chains, all about the same length as my arm, laying on the ground beside me.

"Daisy chains? Really?" Jace says skeptically as he nudges one of the 'daisy chains' with the toe of his boot.

I snatch away the chain and insert the ending stem into the starter stem, making a hoop of sorts. Standing up on tiptoes, I rest the daisy crown on his head of golden locks. I then do the same for Alec. "Now you can be Princes of the Fairy Court" I say happily, resting my own daisy crown on my head. "Kneel before your Queen." I imperiously say, pointing to the ground at my bare feet with my nose in the air.

Releasing stifled chuckles, both Alec and Jace bow down before me.

"Your Majesty," Jace says with a grin. "It would be wise to enter the Kingdom now, rather than wait for the grass to grow."

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with watching the grass grow." I say indignantly. I walk towards the bridge with my nose in the air and a skip in my step. "I've been doing it for 13 years. I should know."

O~o~O

"This is _unbelievable_!" I shriek as I run forward, off the bridge, and onto the honey coloured paving stones of Idris. Never have I imagined I would ever see so many people in the one place. For years I've dreamed of escaping my tower, of living an adventure and finally making my way to the town in the distance that seemed an impossible dream, only the object of daydreams.

And now here I am.

People walk to and fro, some hollering their wears, other testing the produce with a scrutinising eye. I see two children, one on each arm of a woman I assume is their mother, begging for a wooden toy soldier from a stall. I smile at their antics as Alec and Jace come up on either side of me.

"Welcome to Idris." Jace says, leaning down to my ear.

A boy driving a cart steers the horses our way, a boy around the same age as Jace and Alec sits on the cart. He has dark brown curling hair and glasses over dark eyes. He looks nice.

"Simon!" Alec calls out, cupping his hands around his mouth.

The curly haired boy's head shoots to our direction and he smiles when he spots Alec. He pulls up the cart close to us and, after a quick pat to the horses neck, runs up to us. This close up I can see that he looks considerably thinner and lankier standing beside Alec. But who wouldn't look like a runt next to these two? "Hello Alec," He says, beaming from ear to ear. "Jace." He adds, nodding in Jace's direction.

Jace doesn't reply.

Now the boy, Simon, sees me and his eyes turn curious. "And who would this be?" He asks.

"Simon, this is Clary," Alec says, placing a hand on my shoulder. "She's going to be staying with us for a while."

At this Simon's eyes light up with something I can't quite pinpoint. "Do you need a ride to your house? Because I'd be happy to oblige."

"That would be very convenient, thank you Simon." Says Alec.

Simon leads us to his cart, pulled by a handsome chestnut mare.

Jace helps my climb into the back of the cart and I almost stumble over a pumpkin. The back of the cart is almost completely filled with fruit and vegetables.

Simon notices me stumble and sends me an apologetic grin. "Sorry, my mother wanted me to bring these to market today."

I sit down beside a sack of apples and Jace comes down beside me. Alec sits across from us, suddenly very interested in his fingernails. He's acting very odd lately, first the eyebrow spasm and now this. I wonder if we should take him to get checked out?

The cart starts forward with a lurch and I'm flung against Jace's shoulder. "Oh, sorry." I say smiling.

Jace says nothing, but smiles in return. He then reaches across me to grab an apple from the sack. His hair brushes my face and I catch a whiff of a lemony scent, seemingly coming from Jace. He pulls back and takes a bite out of the apple, before silently offering it to me.

I take it from him with two hands and take a bug bite. The crunchy flesh of the apple explodes with a sugary sweetness in my mouth. I must remember to tell Simon and his mother that they're doing an _excellent_ job with the apples.

Ten minutes later, we pull up outside a simple house made from the same light gold stones as the paving work.

Alec jumps down from the cart and so does Jace.

Jace holds a out to me to help me down from the cart, but on my way down my foot catches on something and I toppled down into Jace. He lets out a big _umph._

"Oh my goodness! Jace, I'm so sorry, are you-" I stop short of my apologies when I meet his eyes.

His golden irises are burning into mine with an intensity that speaks a thousand words, but it is like they are in a different language and I can't understand them. _I wish I could understand_ _you Jace. _He clears his throat and helps steady me, all the time my cheeks burning a bright red.

I risk a glance at Alec, who stands waiting patiently in the doorway of the house. His eyebrows seem to be trying to leap of his face. Yes. We simply _must _get him checked out.

* * *

**Ta-da!**

**What do you guys think? I know, probably one of my least favourite chapters too, but I noticed how quickly this story s progressing and I have no idea how many chapters this is going to be. Half the stuff in this story is totally off the bat. I better submit this before my mother starts plotting to murder my laptop...**

**Until next time my darlings!**


	6. Snow White

**Hi guys!  
I am so sorry that I've taken so long to update, I don't really have an excuse other than I didn't feel ****_inspired_****. Yeah, sorry about that. Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter, I personally think this is probably ****_the_**** most boring chapter I have ever written, but if I don't slow down the pace a little this story is going to end up having 10 chapters, and we wouldn't want that now, would we? **

**Although, to make up for the boring chapter, my favourite character of the whole series is introduced into the story, so enjoy that.**

**ONWARDS!**

* * *

**Chapter Five - **

A girl with long black hair swoops past Alec in the doorway and collides with Jace, her arms wrapped around his neck.

I take a step back, an unfamiliar feeling laying in the pit of my stomach. I can't exactly understand what it is, but it comes hand-in-hand with a certain bitterness to this girl with her hands around Jace. Maybe that apple didn't go down so well. Yes, that probably it.

The black-haired girl pulls back from Jace and I get my first look at her face.

The knot in my stomach tightens.

She is undeniably beautiful, with dark eyes and black hair so long it reaches the bottom of her back. Her skin is also very pale next to Jace's golden tone and, unlike me, she can compete with his height easily. She looks exactly like Snow White. "Where have you two _been_?" She asks, releasing her hands from his neck.

The knot subsides a little. A little.

"Didn't Alec tell you? The King sent us to retrieve the lost Princess' crown."

The girl shoots daggers at Alec in a way that is strangely familiar. "Brother of the year over here said nothing. Not even a note to tell us where you two had gone."

_Ah, siblings. _I could see it now, Alec and this girl had the same pallor of their skin, the same dark hair. If this is Alec's sister, then that means she is-

"Isabelle," I say, remembering the name Alec told me.

Immediately, her head whips around to face me. Her dark eyes narrow and scrutinise me carefully.

"That is your name, isn't it?"

"Yes," She says slowly. "Though I don't know why _you_ would know it. Or why you're even here, for that matter." She places both hands on her hips and stares me down, her eyes cold and clear. In the back of my mind I note that she is wearing a very pretty light green dress.

"Okay now Isabelle, calm down. This is Clary. She's been traveling with us." Jace says, stepping between us.

"Hu-hi Isabelle." Simon stutters as he stumbles down from the cart. He hastily runs a hand through his hair and looks shyly at Isabelle from beneath his glasses.

Isabelle ignores him. "What do you mean she's been traveling with you? If she's from Idris I would have seen her before."

Jace hesitates for only a moment, but it's enough.

"_Jace, where did you find her_?"

Jace runs a hand through his hair and doesn't look directly at the girl. "It's kinda a long story." He mutters.

She folds her arms across her chest. "I've got plenty of time."

Jace sighs heavily and I can almost feel the tension in his shoulders. "Well, we found this tower..."

O~o~O

After Jace and Alec explained my situation, Isabelle became noticeably less hostile. She invited me inside and gave me a warm bowl of soup, even offered to braid my unruly hair to keep it out of my face. All the while running around fetching clean clothes for the boys to change into.

"Honestly Isabelle," I say as she runs to and fro between the rooms of her, Jace and Alec's house. "You really don't need to do this for me."

"You said that before." She says, handing me a pretty patterned dress. It looks soft and well-worn and is a hazy green colour with floral patterns. "There's a door down the hall, go in there and change and then I'll fix your hair." She says with a warm smile.

Gratefully, I take the dress and head down the hall and pick a door at random. My eyes still on the garment in my hands, I hold it by the shoulders and let it fall down to its full length in front of me.

"That's a nice dress."

I jump at the voice and drop the dress.

Jace stands in the middle of the room, a plain white shirt in his hands. He is also shirtless. I can see faint scars running across his skin, silvery against his golden skin. He laughs at my shocked face.

"I-I'm sorry." I stutter, fumbling for the dress on the floor. "Isabelle told me to get dressed and-" I am broken off my Jace's hysterical laughing. I cross my hands over my chest, like Isabelle did, and watch Jace as he doubles over in a giggle fit. "I don't see what's so funny." I say indignantly, though it comes out sounding more like a question.

"Yo-your face! You w-were so-so, _distraught_!"

I furrow my brows and frown at him. "It is not everyday one walks in on a half-naked man."

"True," He says, slipping the shirt over his head. "Though many have paid handsomely for the chance."

I scoffed at him and turned to leave and find a vacant room.

"Clary, wait."

I turn back around and see Jace is completely serious. "Yes?"

He seems slightly lost for words. "It's just, you and Alec. You two seem kinda..." He lets the sentence hang open.

I tilt my head to the side and study him. He seems strangely tense, wired up. I wonder what's bothering him. "Alec and I are getting along, yes." I said.

"Yes, I've noticed that. But I was just wondering," He rubs his hand on his neck and look at me through lowered eyelashes.

I wait expectantly.

He groans and shakes out his hands. "Is there something going on between you and Alec?" He rushes out.

I stand there for a moment. "Is there something-?" Then it hits me what it must look like to Jace. One day Alec and I are at each others throats, the next, after a meeting in the woods, we're best buds. "No!" I say. I can't help but let a smile slip. "No, there is _nothing_ going on between us."

Jace visibly relaxes and lets out a breath I didn't know he'd been holding. "Okay, I was just wondering-"

"No, it's okay. I understand."

That may have been the wrong thing to say. He goes rigid all over like there's a broom taped to his back and he sucks in a ragged breath. "_You do_?"

I smile at him warmly. Of course I know. "It's obvious. You're worried for Alec, and I understand that, you two are like brothers. Of course you were worried about him. But don't worry, there is nothing there."

I expect him to be relieved, but it is almost as if he tenses up again. But no, my eyes must be tricking me...

"That's," His eyes are like dull topaz in his face, oddly lacking their usual shine, that glimmer of humour. "That's right. Thank you."

But he doesn't sound happy. He sounds like someone has taken something precious from him. I search his eyes, which are usually windows to what he is feeling, but there is nothing. His eyes are completely blank. He must be _really_ worried about Alec.

O~o~O

"Clary, are you ready to go yet!?" Isabelle yells out from the front of the house.

I'm standing in front of a mirror, admiring my reflection with complete and utter shock. I don't know what could have changed, but I look different from the girl I had seen in the mirror on the morning Jace and Alec found me. I _feel_ different. I general, I look exactly the same. Same green eyes. Same pale skin. Same red hair. But no, I'm not the girl I was before. I'm Clary now. "I'm coming!"

I exit the spare room I'd found and run out the front door where Isabelle and Simon are waiting for me.

Isabelle had asked Simon to stay a little longer so that he could drive us to the market, where Isabelle was going grocery shopping, and Simon was more than happy to oblige.

He helped both Isabelle and I into the back of the cart and began to drive us into town.

"How old are you Clary?" Isabelle asks some time into out trip.

"I think I'm sixteen, though I'm not exactly sure."

"Okay."

We fall back into a slightly uncomfortable silence.

Every now and then, I spot Simon risking glances back at Isabelle, who remains blissfully unaware. Whenever he sees that I've noticed him staring at her, he blushes madly and becomes very interested in the worn leather of his reigns.

I lean into Isabelle. "I think he likes you."

Isabelle looks blankly between me and Simon. "Pardon?"

I lower my voice as not to let Simon catch on. "I think Simon fancies you."

Isabelle's eyes widen fractionally and she blinks a few times. Now she is the one stealing glances at Simon. "No." She states simply, shaking her head. "No, Simon doesn't, he-he can't..." She trails off, her arched eyebrows furrowed together.

I smile to myself. It's quite funny really. I can see the way that Simon looks at her, and I can see the odd denial on Isabelle's eyes when she looks at him. I find it strange that they haven't figured it out yet. They're in love.

The cart slows down and I look over the market. Like my first glimpse of Idris, the streets and the market square are packed with people. Three little red-head girls sit on the edge of a fountain that takes up most of the centre of the square, the statue of a marble angel rising over the water behind them. They are plaiting an blonde girls extremely long hair. A little behind the fountain, a man in a black cloak tends to a horse the colour of night.

Simon offers to help us both out of the cart, but I decline. Isabelle doesn't.

I hop down off the cart and skip around the fountain, letting the fine spray from the water falling from the cup in the angel's hand cover my hair. I can feel the eyes of the hooded man watching me, but he is probably only curious as to why I'm skipping around a fountain. Everything here is so familiar to the people of Idris, that sometimes I think they forget the admire the little things.

"Is she alright?" I hear Simon mutter to Isabelle.

"She's fine, she's just, never been to Idris before."

I gaze into the water and laugh at my distorted face as the horse and cloaked figure comes towards the fountain. The horse drinks from water and the man strokes its mane and neck.

It is a little while until he speaks. "Hello my dear,"

I turn to face him as he lowers his hood and I suck in a breath.

His eyes are slitted like a cats and are gold and green. "I'm happy you've finally gotten out, I really am, It'll do you some good to get some vitamin E. But I was beginning to wonder why you weren't answering my gift baskets."

* * *

**I know, literally 5 seconds worth of 'Oliver,' but com'on guys, I want this chapter to ****_at least _****have 15 chapters. I'm sorry I had to cut this short, but I promise you, the next chapter will be ****_so_**** much better and you're all going to have mini spasms. I swear on the Angel.**

**Forever yours...**

**Britney**


	7. Expecting Enthusiasm

**Okay guys, two thing before we start the story.**

**1: I am really sorry about not updating quickly, but once again, I have no excuse. Basically, what happens is during the day, I do stuff (It's school holidays here), and during the day I say to myself that I'll add to the story that night. It never happens. But I did end up finishing the next chapter, so that's good. I'd also like to just thank everybody who reviewed because (guys, you won't believe it) there are ABSOLUTELY NO negative comments! Even after my updating mishaps! I AM SO PROUD!**

**2: Can we just have a moment of silence, because this is a momentous occasion. This chapter symbolises my commitment, and you know why? WE HAVE JUST BROKEN MY RECORD FOR CONTINUING A STORY! YOU GUYS HAVE NO IDEA HOW BIG OF A DEAL THIS IS FOR ME. I AM INFAMOUS FOR DITCHING STORIES IN THE EARLY STAGES BUT HERE WE ARE AND I COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU GUYS!**

**Okay, 'nuff with the sappy stuff, ONWARD**

* * *

"_Oliver?!_"

The cat-eyed man looks around him, then point back at himself. "Me?"

I can't speak, I can't move, I can't think. This man is Oliver, my only friend for a majority part of my life, and he is standing right in front of me. And for some reason I thought he'd be shorter. "Y-you, how did you-?"

"Oh, the basket thing? Simple really. I basic charm on the old thing allowed me to sen-"

"How are you here?"

He looks at me blankly, his bottom lip sticking out slightly. "I expected a little more enthusiasm."

"Clary," Isabelle appears at my side, brandishing a broken off leather reign like a whip. Simon stands beside her, a little wary. "Do you know this man?"

"Uh," I notice that when Isabelle arrived, 'Oliver' ducked his head away, hiding his eerily feline in nature eyes. A war wages in my mind, try to decide out whether I should tell Isabelle about 'Oliver' and the basket, or simply say I don't know him and be done with it. But no, I've trusted Oliver for the last 13 years of my life, if he wanted to harm me he would've sent a poison apple or something long ago. "Yes." I say. "Yes, this is-"

"Bane, Magnus Bane." Oliver- or Magnus really -interjects, taking Isabelle's whip free hand and kissing it. He keeps his head ducked. "I was just wondering whether my good friend _Clary_ here," He sends me a meaningful look. "Would be so gracious as to let me speak to her. It is of great importance of course."

Isabelle looks like she is sizing up Oli- I mean -Magnus, narrowing her already dark eyes with distrust. "I'm not leaving Clary alone with you, if that's what you're asking."

Magnus sighs a heavy sigh. A sigh that, to me, says _I really expected nothing less_. It seems to have said the same to Isabelle, because she lowers her makeshift weapon and gestures to Simon's cart behind her.

"Perhaps you would like a more comfortable place to talk?"

"The cart?" I ask. "But Isa-"

"Clary my dear," Magnus says, placing a light brown hand on my shoulder. "I believe your friend is implying I go back to their home to speak."

"Oh, right."

We pile into the back of the cart, our shopping seemingly forgotten, and head back home. I am sit down beside a pumpkin and Isabelle climbs up the front with Simon, who looks as shocked as I am smug.

Magnus takes a seat next to me. "Clary huh?"

"Magnus huh?"

He holds a finger up and furrows his brows. "Excuse me madam, but I never once said my name was Oliver. Such a _boring_ name anyway, whatever possessed you to choose _that_ name?"

I shrug and drum my fingers on the rough skin of the pumpkin. "I don't know, it sounded nice."

"Is that what you thought when you named yourself Clary?"

"No," I say softly. "Someone else named me."

Magnus doesn't speak for a little while, but I can feel his slitted eyes focused on me with a strange intensity. "Let me guess." He softly, almost sympathetically. "It was a boy."

I don't need to answer, because Magnus stands up and walks to stand near Isabelle and Simon, ending the conversation.

"So, how long?" Magnus asks Simon, still looking at me. I'm beginning to think that maybe Magnus is avoiding showing the other two his eyes.

"Well, the trip from the market to Isabelle's usually takes about 10 minutes on foot, so with cart it's-"

"No, not till we reach Isabelle's house, I mean how long have you two been together?"

At this both Isabelle and Simon began objecting, Isabelle furiously, but I notice that Simon's argument is a little half-hearted. Poor guy...

"Excuse me." I say, but none of them hear me, Isabelle is too busy denying any relationship between her and Simon.

"Excuse me." I say again, a little louder this time. Magnus is shrugging and telling Isabelle it's going to happen sooner or later, which only sets her off further. Simon's objections seem to have faded to nothing.

"_EXCUSE ME_!"

All three turn to look at me, they're argument fluttering down to nothing.

"You might not have noticed, but we passed the house. 3 minutes ago."

O~o~O

"Now, first off. How did you get out?" Magnus says after he closes the door of Isabelle's room. Jace wasn't very happy at Isabelle and I bringing a stranger home with us. Honestly, Jace was more angry at _me_. But that anger quickly dissolved once he got a good look at Magnus, cat eyes and all. It took a fair while for me to convince Jace to let Magnus in the house, but eventually he gave in.

"Jace and Alec found my tower and helped me out." I say.

"Ah, Alec." Magnus says, a wistful smile playing at his lips. "Mr Blue-eyes." Magnus was briefly introduced to Alec as we'd made our way through the house to Isabelle's, and it was intriguing to say the least.

They'd stared at each other for a good 2 minutes while I stood there, waiting for Magnus or Alec to say something. Eventually, Alec was the one to break the ice, shaking Magnus's hand while never once breaking eye contact. It was almost painful trying to get Magnus to follow me.

"Yeah," I say. "That's him." We stand in an uncomfortable silence and Magnus begins to stare out the window over my shoulder. I use his distraction as a chance to study him. His eyes are a pretty almond shape and his skin is the colour of honey. His hair is black and slightly spiked up, I swear it evens _sparkles_ as he moves. I wonder how he keeps people from noticing his eyes-

"Humans are a bit behind with the times."

Baffled, I ask, "What?"

"Humans. You. The human race has yet to discover that magic is not limited to females." Magnus explains, moving to take a seat near the window. "You're strange like that."

Apprehension dawns on me and suddenly I understand. "You're a witch."

"Warlock, actually." Magnus points out. He gestures vaguely to his eyes and sends me a wicked grin. "We all have our little secrets."

"So that's how you were able to send me thing from the basket!" I exclaim, running down to take a seat on the floor beside his chair. "My goodness, that's amazing! Can you do other things, like make someone disappear? Or maybe-"

A stray thought hits me like a sucker punch to the chest and suddenly my excitement disappears, and I'm instead filled with chilling sadness. "Do you know who my parents are?" I barely whisper.

Magnus ducks his head again and the atmosphere of the small room quickly darkens. "No. I don't"

"But you must-"

"I know nothing about where you come from Clary." Magnus snaps back, his gold-green eyes bright

I flinch away from him, only slightly, but it's enough for him to notice. He sighs and rubs his hands over his face and into his hair. His hair comes away covered in thousands of tiny specs of glitter. "Clary," He says, this time his voice soft enough and barely loud enough for me to hear. He leans down and knits his hands together in front of him. "I'm sorry. But I don't know about your parents, I was only given orders: Keep her alive, keep her safe. That's all."

The backs of my eyes are burning and I know in mere moments the tears will begin to run. I try to hide my face from him by turning away and using my hair as a shield, but he gently grabs my chin and turns my face to to his. The first tears spill over.

"Clary, you may not know who you really are or where you truly belong, but you do know something. Something I can verify."

I use my palms to brush away my tears and ask, "And what's that?"

"That your parents loved you." His voice is still soft, but it suddenly contains a strange bitterness. "And that's a lot more than some people can say." He leans back into his chair, looking exhausted.

We sit in silence, me on the floor with silent tears running down my cheeks and Magnus, staring down at his hands, his mouth set into a grim line.

"I don't know what good it'll do," Magnus says after a while. "But I may as well tell you that I'm not the first person hired to keep you alive."

This stops the tears almost immediately. "W-what?"

"Luke Garroway, known officially as Lucian Graymark. He was the first man they hired to protect you, but he died. The plague." He adds at my questioning look. "After Luke died, I received a letter informing me that I was to send food and other services to a little girl faraway. Of course I was paid, handsomely I might add, but I never heard more from the sender of the letter."

At that moment a knock came from the door and a voice saying, "Dinners ready." I recognise it as Jace's voice but before I can even stand up to open the door, I hear retreating footsteps.

Magnus chuckles beside me. "I dare say, I don't he likes me very much."

"But why? You very nice."

He shrugs and stands up, then raises an eyebrow at me. When I answer with nothing but a blank stare he says, "Oh, I don't know. Just a feeling."

* * *

**Below is a list of every single person that has ever commented on my baby Once Upon a Time... and I just want to thank all of you, yes, even you Guests, you are all equally epic ninja unicorns in my eyes. If you see your name on the list below then you have at least once made me do a happy dance. BE PROUD.**

**ValletaGrayx, Made-in-Denmark, Mara fray, bow down to me peasants, Harmonic Bunny, 5, Clarly Potter, Lucy, maryamabdulla, Guest #3, Rosie Herondale, Cethena, Nerdcolonist, Guest #2, maryam, Guest #1, anades49800, without fears, fireboltwing4, Rachel, CatnipGirlOnFire, Seabed, AmberMariee, noaverageangel, maryammerlin mania, Whisper-of-Warning, icewizarding**

**Till next time epic ninja unicorns!**


	8. A Dream of Blood and Angels

**So here it is, chapter 8 of Once Upon a Time and, once again, I am breaking my record for chapter count (not to mention word) Enjoy this chapter, because I ****_loved_**** writing it. I got a bit impatient in places (I'm sure you'll find out which considering the spelling) But I did it. Here it is.**

**NINJA UNICORNS, ****_UNITE_**

* * *

**Chapter 8 - A Dream of Angels and Blood**

Dinner had passed rather slowly, the only sound the quiet clink of cutlery against plates and teeth. It was rather tedious.

I would much rather a canvas and some pastels, now _that_ would be entertainment at its best. But this late at night, the moon high in the sky and illuminating a pool of white light through the window, I would imagine that the rest of the house is asleep. Which is probably what I should be doing right now, but I am struggling a little.

Isabelle had lent me an old night gown of hers that she said was much to small for her, but unlike her, I am not tall in the least, so the hem drags on the floor as I make my way to the bed in her spare room and snuggle down.

I rest my head down on the pillow and shut my eyes, falling asleep almost immediately.

_ Flames crackle in the fire place, sending a tender golden glow to the whole room. To the stone walls to the marble floor, everything is comforting and warm and familiar. Every corner and every crevice of this room makes the blood in my veins tingle and spark. And I don't know why._

_ The room dissolves and Jace appears, dressed in a simple white shirt and a sword in a his hilt by his hip. "M'lady." He says, dropping down on one knee and bowing his head._

_ I move towards him at a sluggishly slow pace and then I am in front of him, and he looks up._

_ His eyes are beautiful, like pools of molten gold resting in the face of an angel. His high cheekbones, his full lips, his soft blonde locks. Everything about him perfect. And he's looking at me like I'm a wonder of the world._

_ "Clary," He says, his voice sweet and thick like honey. "You have to know, I-" And then he chokes, the words stopping in his throat and his eyes widening to form shocked O's._

_ "Jace?" I sink to my knees beside him, panic setting in._

_ Then I see it. The scarlet stain blooming across his heart like a flower, staining the thin fabric with his own blood._

_ "Jace!" I screech._

_ He slowly falls back and I somehow find his head in my lap, my tears splashing onto his shirt and mixing with the ever growing ruby mark pulsing out of his chest. He claws at his chest as if in slow motion, his eyes confused and sad._

_ And then it stops. Everything._

_ His hands fall limp by his side and his eyes lose its light, like a flame dying without the oxygen it needs. And in that moment, I know it. He's gone._

_ "No, no, no," I cry, my tears falling and spilling over my cheeks and down. I repeat this like a chant, like it can somehow fix what's been broken and bring him back._

_ And in a blink of an eye, he's gone too. Disappeared between one choked sob and the next. I crumble to the ground, unable to gather enough strength to even hold myself upright, and sob. _

_ I feel something cracking inside me, and I feel as if it can never be mended. I'm going to stay like this forever. Broken and unable to feel anything but the pain and sorrow that overwhelms me._

_ And the worst part, I don't even know what's broken._

When I wake I am screaming. Not a scared scream, but a heart wrenching cry I never knew I was able to make.

I cut it off as quick as I can and cover my mouth with my hand and squeeze my eyes shut. It was just a dream. Just a dream.

But it felt to real, so vivid. Everything about it felt so completely tangible that I never stopped to think about what was happening. I never stopped to think. I'm shaking like I've stood out in the cold for the night, but my cheeks are burning and I feel like I'm about to pass out. A whimper rises in my throat as the door opens. Somehow I missed the sound of footsteps on the creaky floor.

"Clary," Jace hisses through the dark. The bed sinks beside me under the weight of him and suddenly I'm crying into his shoulder, bawling really.

I expect him to push me away, to at least give me an awkward half-hearted condolence. But instead he wraps his arms around me, using one hand to pat the back of my head and the other to rub my back. He whispers in my ear, but I can't make anything out over the sound of my own voice.

God only knows how long he held me in his arms, whispering reassuring sounds in my ear, but I can't help but notice the way I seem to fit perfectly against him, our heart beats pounding in our chests together, our breaths in sync.

"Just wait a moment," Jace whispers and his arms are no longer around me.

I feel cold, goose bumps rise along my arms and my skin feels frozen.

A flicker, a spark, and then light illuminates the room. Beside the bed, Jace has a candle in his hands, in the other a live match. He blows the match out and sets the candle on the bedside table before retaking his seat on the bed.

I can see him now, and the chill in my bones has receded, but something still feels wrong.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong," He whispers, grabbing my hand and squeezing it between his own.

I shake my head. "It was just a dream, I get them sometimes."

"A nightmare." He says, scooting closer. "I get those too. When I was younger, I used to have very bad ones," His adams apple bobs as he gulps. "And Maryse- that's Alec and Isabelle's mother -would sit with me the whole night. She'd light that candle," He says, poking a finger to the flickering flame at the bedside. "And she would tell me that as long as she was there, the nightmares would stay away, that she would fight them off for me."

"What were your nightmares about?"

He moves to open his mouth, but stops short. He closes it and averts his eyes. "My parents mostly." He mutters.

I can tell that this must be a sore point, because his eyes begin to water a little and his chin crumbles up like he's forcing back tears. After a little while, he speaks again. "What about you? What was your nightmare about?"

"I-" I don't want to tell him. I don't know why, but I don't. It just seems so strange, to dream so vividly of someone dying, only to speak with them minutes later. "I don't remember." I am a horrible liar.

And I can see it in his eyes that he knows as well.

He says nothing. What he does do is stand up, walk around the bed and lay down beside, his back against the head board.

"What are you doing?" I ask, my voice hoarse from crying.

"I'm going to fight off your nightmares." He answers, locking eyes with mine.

My lip trembles and new tears roll down the wet paths on my cheeks. I crawl back down onto the bed and rest my head in the crook of his shoulder, his arm around me. "Will you stay the whole night?"

"Yes, I would protect you with my life Clary"

And it is in this moment that I can almost hear the broken piece inside me fixing, stitch by stitch.

O~o~O

Magnus was the one to find Jace and I. Jace acted strangely afterwards and I can't figure out why, but I can see what Magnus was talking about when he said Jace doesn't like him very much.

For some reason Jace keeps shooting white hot glares and smirks in Magnus's direction, which he returns by smiling sweetly and chewing his pancake happily.

"Thank you Alec." Isabelle says as Alec sets another two pancakes down on her plate.

"No problem at all my darling little sister." Alec replies, planting a huge dramatic kiss on her forehead which she scrubs away with the palm of her hand, scowling at her older brother.

Magnus, who is sitting on one side of me mutters under his breath about how he didn't get one.

Jace stands up from the table and puts his plate in the sink before coming behind Alec and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Alec, we should leave. I won't to get some things done afterwards."

"But, my panca-"

"You can finish them later, now com'on."

Alec looks longingly at his pancakes as Jace drags him from his place at the table and throws him some boots.

"Get your behind in gear, we've got work to do."

"What kind of work?" I ask, rising from my seat a little.

Jace snatches his satchel of the back of his chair and holds it up. "We're going to give the lost crown to the King. That _is_ how we found you in the first place." He stops midway on swinging the satchel over his shoulder as he watches me rise fully from my seat and walk down the hall. "Clary, what are you doing?" He asks cautiously, sort of like he already knows the answer.

"I'm grabbing some shoes. I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not." He replies, pronouncing every syllable very clearly. He walks towards me, looking at me like I'm a child that needs to be protected from the world.

This only makes me more determined. "But why not?" I ask back, returning his stare with one of my own.

"Clary-" He begins, but is cut off by Magnus.

"You might as well say yes Jake, she's going to follow you anyway." He takes a bite of his pancake and looks evenly at Jace, who looks either like he's going to start an uproar for getting his name wrong or throw a tantrum and storm into his room. He chooses the first.

"It's _Jace_, for your information, and somehow I fail to see how this is any of your business." Jace hisses with thinly veiled distrust and anger staining his voice.

Magnus takes his time wiping the corner of his mouth with a napkin before rising from his seat and crossing his arms across his chest, his feline eyes habouring a faint fire. "Excuse me if I'm wrong, but If my memory serves well, I think I've known Clary for, I don't know, a month, thirteen years longer than you? So in all honesty, I could be asking you the exact same thing. _My_ advice would be take Clary with you to save yourself some trouble. And that, little Goldy, is the only advice you will ever hear from me."

Jace's eyes look like they could burn holes in the back of Magnus' head as he sashays away and towards his temporary room. Once he hears the door click shut Jace turns back on me. "You're not coming." He states simply.

"But Jace-"

"No, don't even try it. You're not coming at that is that. I don't care if Isabelle has to sit on you but you are going nowhere near that castle."

"Why? Why can't I go?" I ask, pleading Jace with my eyes.

"Because I said so, that's why."

For the first time, an unfamiliar burning begins in my stomach. A fire that keeps sending the strangest, defiant thoughts to my brain. _Who is he to tell me what to do? I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself and if he won't take me, who's to stop me?_

I shushed the voice and instead asked, "And how do you plan on keeping me here?" I crossed my arms over my chest and tilted my head to the side.

Jace's eyes send a shiver down my spine. His mouth curls into a bitter grin and he chuckles quietly. "Oh how you underestimate me..."

O~o~O

"_Jace!"_ I squeal as he carries my awkwardly in arms. I thrash around in his grip and try to loosen his hold on me but his arms are like steel: Strong and determined to stay that way.

He kicks open my bedroom door and dumps me unceremoniously on the bed and before I can even blow my wild red curls out of my eyes, the door shuts with a click, and then the he turns the lock.

I scramble from the bed and bang on the door with all my strength. "Jace! Let me out _right now_!"

"I'll let you out when I get back." He replies through the heavy wooden door. He mutters something to Isabelle about not letting me out and then I hear Alec's footsteps join his and they're gone and out the door. I run to the window and watch with a my mouth in a firm line as the two boys cross the street and disappear from view.

I jump onto the bed and squeal into the pillows, the sound coming out muffled by the stiff feathers.

A noise from outside the door catches my attention mid-scream. A heavy thump.

The door clicks and opens and in the doorway stands Magnus, his hands shimmering with slowly fading blue sparks. "Well?" He asks, gesturing to the window. "We following or not?"

O~o~O

The sight I found in the living room shocks me to say the least, because laying on the floor in an motionless heap, her long black hair spread out around her head, is Isabelle. "_You killed Isabelle!?"_

Magnus, confused, looks from Isabelle's unmoving body and back to me. "God no, I just put a weak sleeping spell on her, she should up fine in half an hour."

_Should?_

Magnus places a hand on my back and I whisper a quick apology to Isabelle's unconscious form before I am lead out the door. Magnus closes his eyes and tightens his fist on a piece of fabric in his hands.

I am almost tempted to ask what he's doing when his eyes shoot open. "Follow me."

Magnus steps, much like everyone else's, are much larger than mine, so I have to partially sprint to keep up with his long-legged strides. The streets are wide and paved with pale stones, shop keepers holler their wares from their storefronts as Magnus and I zip past. The streets are a maze of almost identical paths and people, it's quote disorientating. I have no idea how Magnus manages it.

Magnus stops and I crash into his back. A grunt of pain dies in my throat as he puts a finger to my lips and nods to our right.

Jace and Alec are crossing the street again, this time to a grand castle looming in the distance, it's gothic style spires piercing the sky like daggers.

Magnus smiles down and me and raises his hand and holds his thumb against his middle finger. "And this, is where it gets fun."

He clicks his fingers.

The first thing I felt was this unbelievable hollow and weightless feeling, pleasant but horrifying at the same time, I felt like I was a part of the air itself. The second was that my entire body had disappeared. That was when I screamed.

A hand clamped down on across the lower half of my face and Magnus' voice whispered in my ear, "I may have made us invisible, but I'm afraid not sound proof."

_Invisible_, Magnus had turned us invisible! It seems the extent of his abilities is endless, I must ask how he does it soon...

I look in the direction of Magnus' voice and focus on the area, and in moments I can see an outline of him. He points after Jace and Alec and we follow, hard on their heels.

O~o~O

Getting past the guards was the easy part, finding the right room, no _that_ was a struggle.

Every once in a while we would lose the boys in the maze-like corridors only to find them on the other side of the palace minutes later.

At one point, we'd accidentally walked into a room filled with plush toys and dolls made of china, a crib had sat in the middle, dusty and vacant.

Now, after re-finding the boys for the umpteenth time, they stop outside a grande door, painted a light creamy colour with golden flowers blooming from every corner. They went inside and I went to follow when Magnus grabbed my arm.

"Clary," Magnus said in an urgent whisper. "The spell will wear off soon, you need to do what you came to do then get out."

"Your not coming with me?"

He shakes his transparent face. "No, I'll wait out here. The spell is only going to last so long, if I focus it more on you than me it'll last longer. Now go, you're probably missing all the fun." Magnus mouth quirks up in the corner and I notice that he looks paler than he was before, a bit drained, his honey coloured skin dull.

I wrap my hand around his waist and hug his semi-transparent body. "Thank you." I whisper in the grand hallway before slipping inside.

Inside, I see a dark head and another fairer one, Jace. It could be anyone, but I can tell it's him simply by the way his tense shoulders as he bows down, his blonde head low. He doesn't like having to bow to anyone, that much is clear.

But it seems he doesn't have much of a choice, because scattered on the perimeter of the room are guards, all with their heads bowed like Jace and Alec's.

A man sits on an imperial looking throne, staring down at Jace and Alec with only mild interest. "Rise, sons of Idris." He commands to the boys. On his head, he wears a circle of gold, decorated in jewels and pretty illustrations that I can't quite make out.

I fight the urge to duck behind a marble pillar and walk forward and the boys rise from their kneeling position. The man with the golden circle stands up too, and walks towards the boys with calculated steps. "The crown, have you been able to retrieve it from Downworld?"

Alec stands slowly with his head still bowed. "Yes your Higness, Jonathan and I have brought it for you."

A flicker of a spark appears in the older mans eyes, an almost eager excitement in his eyes. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

Jace stands and carefully digs into the satchel, bringing out the silver tiara in his hands, before handing it to the man.

He holds it in his hands with more care than I would think possible for such sturdy looking hands. His eyes quickly turn from eager to a silent sadness that chills me to my very core. His bottom lip quivers, only slightly, but I see. "The princess, she was not...?"

Alec looks down at his feet and shakes his head solemnly. " No sire, we could not find her."

The man turns away from the two boys, squeezing his eyes shut. I can only assume that this princess they talk of was this mans daughter. The king. When he turns back, his eyes are devoid of grief, of much of anything. His dark eyes are as blank as a fresh piece of parchment.

That's when the door bursts open.

Two guards carry in a semi-conscious form dangling between their arms. A head of dark hair sways from side to side and then he's thrown to the floor to his knees. His head lolls back and I see him. Magnus.

He looks dreadful, his black hair limp in front if his face and his maple syrup coloured skin drained to a neat grey. Magnus's eyes find mine, despite my invisibility, and he says on thing before passing out completely. "Oops."

The feeling washes over me like a tide going back to see and suddenly I'm visible again.

Jace and Alec both whir around to face me, their eyes forming identical circles of shock, Jace's mouth moves to say my name but he is cut off.

The older man, the King, steps forward. Silencing Jace with a wave of his hand. The grief is back in his eyes but now they are focused at me. His lips move slightly and I catch what he is saying, over and over like a chant.

_Seraphina._

* * *

**DA DA DUUUUUHN!**

**Seraphina? What? I'm so happy I finally got here, and I'm so happy that people are actually taking the time to read what I write so thank you thank you and thank you.**

**This chapter was around 3 and a half thousand words (my second largest chapter****_ ever_****)so I am proud of myself :)**

**I'll try to get the next update as soon as I can. School's back so I've got homework again and Tumblr is ****_not_**** helping.**

**Until next time!**


	9. A Ball, M'lady

**Previously on Once Upon a Time:**

_ The older man, the King, steps forward. Silencing Jace with a wave of his hand. The grief is back in his eyes but now they are focused at me. His lips move slightly and I catch what he is saying, over and over like a chant._

_ Seraphina._

* * *

"Your highness?" Jace says walking forward to stand beside the King, all the while giving me a look that only scrapes the frustration he must be feeling. "Uh, this is our companion-"

"Seraphina." The King finishes. He walks forward hope glistening in his eyes with yet to shed tears. "It is her, our princess. Returned." He sounds almost wistful as he moves closer to me where I am frozen on spot, completely ignoring Jace's protests and Alec's shell shocked expression, gazing down at Magnus's unmoving body. Oh god, Magnus. I hope he's alright.

"I, I'm not-" Before I can even finish the sentence his arms are around me, squeezing me in a bear hug with his face buried in my hair. "My little girl," He whispers, more to himself than to me. "She's come home."

"Little girl? But I-"

_The sounds of battle, muffled by thick stone walls. A woman's eyes, looking down lovingly. A grey horse and a retreating castle in the distance. "Jocelyn, it is time."_

It's him, it's really him. The voice, it's the same one that belongs to this man squeezing the life out of me as he cries quietly into my shoulder. He's my father. He's the King. And I'm...

"The lost princess." I whisper. my eyes meet Jace's, green meeting gold, and I can see something unravel in his eyes. "I'm the lost princess."

The King- my _father_ -releases me and holds me by the shoulders. "You cannot comprehend how long I have been waiting for this moment." He says, his cheeks sparkling with the trail of tears.

My own eyes begin to burn as I look him up and down. his hair, which I imagine was once black, now has grey streaked through it and his dark eyes are warm and kind and lined with ancient lines that tell me he used to smile a lot. Used to. Despite his cheery eyes, his mouth is surrounded by creases that whisper of sadness and remorse and... Grief.

"Mother?" I ask, the simple word enough to make him look away.

"She's gone." He looks back into my eyes, his lingering on my hair and green irises. "You look so much like her." His voice cracks and I throw myself into his arms.

For years I have imagined what life might have been like with my family, but never did I imagine a journey such as this, of a _life _such as this. I feel as if the walls of this palace are welcoming me home after being away for such a long time. In my father's arms, I feel warm and safe, but I know that there will forever be a place in my heart for the mother I never knew.

"Not to destroy the mood or anything," Alec's voice cuts through the quiet and is almost harsh to my ears.

I turn away from my father and meet Alec's erratic gaze, his blue eyes incredibly bright in his pale face. The corners of his mouth are turned down at the corners with worry. "But can we help Magnus please. Like, _now_."

O~o~O

After my father, who I learnt was King Valentine, organises a place in the infirmary- Yeah. This place has it's own infirmary -he tries to send the boys away. "Thank you, Mr Lightwood and Mr Herondale. You have served your kingdom greatly. Thank you for returning our dear princess Seraphina." He says

The name sounds strange to me. Whereas the name Clary flows as easily as water through a stream. I can't imagine ever being called it from _birth._

"You may leave now. Return to your homes and you will find your payment no later than tomorrow."

"But your Highness," Alec says, his brow furrowed. "What about Magnus? We can't just leave him here, please, let me stay with him in the infirmary."

I can't help but smile at this. It's as obvious as Simon and Isabelle. Alec likes Magnus and by the way Magnus was acting after meeting Alec, I'm sure the feeling is returned.

Valentine considers this for a moment. "Very well. You may stay until your friend awakens."

It was easier than I had first expected to convince father that Magnus had meant no harm to him or the Kingdom, but had simply helped me get into the castle.

"Mr Herondale, you may leave." Valentine says, dismissing Jace with a small wave of his hand.

"But what about Cl-Seraphina." He corrects himself at the last moment. "Surely she would like some company."

I move to answer but Valentine cuts me off with his own. "She won't need any company. To celebrate her return, I will be hosting a ball. You won't be needed further. You may leave."

Jace bows to my father and with his jaw set and a polite, but completely fake, smile, before leaving the room with Alec. Outside the door they par ways.

Now I am alone with my father. I don't know what to think. What I'm supposed to do. Do I hug him, or give him some space? Do I trust him or make him earn it? I just don't know, I've never had to worry about this kind of thing! _What am I supposed to do!?_

Before I can even try one of my few tactics, his arms are around me again. He releases me and holds me by the shoulders, beaming from ear to ear. "My dearest daughter, I have waited too long for this." He claps his hands, the sound echoing in the large room, and calls for two people. No later, two women appear from a side door I hadn't noticed and pull me away and out of the room.

O~o~O

I've never had someone run a bath for me, but that's what happened when the two women led me into a rather ornate bathroom that was bedecked with more marble, bath salts and oils than I thought even existed.

"My my," The older of the two women tut at me. She has graying hair and kindly brown eyes that are framed by crows feet. She has a grandmotherly feel about her and her hands are soft as she scrubs away at my cracked and filthy feet. "What have you been doing my dear, running through forests?"

"Yes." I reply.

They both laugh, though I'm not sure why.

The second woman, the younger one with dark auburn hair that makes mine look like an open fire, runs her fingers through my damp hair and begins to do it up. "The lost princess returned," She murmurs excitedly. "I never thought I would see that day."

They take me out of the bath and wrap a fluffy white towel around me, almost the exact same colour as my skin, and walk me out of the enormous bathroom and into a bigger, vaguely familiar, room.

The walls are a pale cream and are decorated with painting off green landscapes and the familiar streets of Idris. A bed, a child's bed, sits in the center of the room covered in lavish fabrics and stuffed animals.

"Welcome home Seraphina," The older woman says. "It's been a while since you've slept in your own bed, I would say."

Before I can comment, the two women sweep me away into another room. It is long and filled with row upon row of dresses of every colour imaginable. This room, that is larger than my tower was tall, is a wardrobe.

My father hadn't been joking when he'd said there would be a party.

As I'm waiting for Eleanor to return, I can hear them from the gates, carriages rattling down the stone paved streets towards the castle. There is even a party going on for those other than the rich citizens of neighboring kingdoms. I tried to spot Alec and Isabelle's house from my balcony window- yes, there is a balcony -but I couldn't.

A knock came from my door and the older woman, whose named I learned was Eleanor, enters and bows a little.

"Eleanor, you don't have to do that you know."

"It's a sign of respect m'lady."

"I'm young enough to be your granddaughter, you don't have to call me m'lady either."

Eleanor smiles and her eyes crinkle. "Then what am I to call you, Seraphina?

"Clary, call me Clary."

Eleanor gives me a strange look before leading me towards the vanity table by the balcony. She sits me down and immediately starts to work on the frizzled up-do. She scrunches up her nose. "I though perhaps if Janus did your hair while it was still wet it would stay in place." He pulls out a few pins and my hair tumbles down around my shoulders in a wild clump. "Apparently not." She mutters.

She begins to re-do my hair and I look out the glass balcony door at the lights of the Kingdom. The moon is low in the sky and stars freckle the navy sky. I can see people dancing and walking through the streets with a skip in their steps and my stomach begins to churn a little at the thought that their happiness stems from me. _Me_.

How could all these people be celebrating my return when not one knows me. I do not know what Idris was like before I came here, but I imagine it is very different to what I am witnessing through this glass. Why am I the one to bring this light? Why me?

But I cannot deny the beauty of the city at night. Lights flicker in the warm colours of fire through every window and feasts rest at every corner.

"All done." Eleanor says, placing nimble hands on her hips triumphantly. "You'll be the pride of the ball, you will."

My red hair is twisted up into an elegant bun and a silver tiara rests on the my head, it's emeralds gleaming in the light. It matches the green of my dress beautifully, but it feels wrong. Too elaborate. "Eleanor, couldn't I just wear the dress I wore here?"

"Of course not! You must look your best to present yourself to the court and that dashing young fellow waiting for you."

"Dashing young fellow?" My heart picks up pace and images of gold flash across my mind.

"Oh yes, absolutely gorgeous he is, all dressed up. You'll fall to bits when you see him."

"I'm sure I will." I reply, trying to conceal the smile that is stretching across my face.

"Now," Eleanor says, helping me up from the seat with my heavy dress. "Let's get you downstairs."

O~o~O

My heart is pounding. I can't do this, I can't do this- "I can't do this." I whisper to Eleanor, who is waiting behind the gilded double doors to, assuming on the chatter coming from inside, the ballroom. "I can't. I-I don't know what to do. Eleanor, please-"

"Dear, calm down," She shushes, placing a cold hand on my cheek. "There is no need to worry. Your father will introduce you, and then I will open the doors and you walk down the stairs. That is all. You'll be fine." She shoots me a warm smile and i can feel some confidence slipping back inside me.

"Thank you." I whisper.

"My pleasure. Now get ready, your father will be introducing you soon."

I nod and press my ear up to the door. The only voice audible is my fathers, it seems everyone else has been hushed to a silence.

"Of course, all of you know of the reason for our Kingdom wide celebration." The muffled voice says. "And that is because something, _amazing_, has happened. The return of our beloved princess, who I would like introduce to you now. Ladies and gentlemen of the court of Idris, I give to you, my daughter, Seraphina Fairchild."

Applauds erupt as Eleanor pushes open the doors and suddenly I am engulfed in light and sound. Cheers and claps, both polite and rather wild, are everywhere. And are coming from the strangely dressed people at the bottom of the staircase.

I pick up the hem of the gown and start my descent down, the steps cold against my feet. I had begged Eleanor to let me out of those torturous contraptions she put on my feet, and finally she had let in. My heart is beating in my throat, seemingly trying to burst out my mouth for a quick hello. Finally, I reach the bottom of the staircase and someone I hadn't noticed holds a pale hand for me to take as the music starts.

He has a head of pale hair, almost white, and dark eyes. His features are sharp and angular and he holds himself with an air of pride which I am not sure I like. But I shouldn't judge, I don't know him. "M'lady," He says, bowing low and coming up again to kiss my gloved hand.

_There it is again, m'lady._

"Uh, hello." I reply, attempting to smile at him, but I have a small suspicion it came out more of a grimace. "I'm-"

"Seraphina, I know." He cuts in. "I am Jonathan, Jonathan Morgenstern. May I escort the lady to a dance?"

"I don't know," I say, looking around the room. "Which lady would you like?"

He laughs and it's a nice laugh. It reminds me of summer, of light filtering through the trees, Jace's smile...

I can't help but duck my head as my cheeks start to flame an aggressive pink for reasons I can't really tell you. Because I don't know.

"Very nice." He says, his dark eyes shifting between my eyes and my mouth.

My hand flies to my mouth my eyes shoot wide. "Please tell em there isn't something on my teeth."

He laughs again and takes me to the floor where multitudes of people are swirling to the violin music that filters softly through the room. "You are funny. I like that."

I trip over the hem of my dress and press my hands into his chest to steady myself and his chuckles travel through his body and into my hands, sending shivers down my spine.

"I see I have a bit of work to do, what about we start with a simple waltz?"

"Uh, Okay."

"Lovely."

O~o~O

There was nothing simple about that waltz. Thank god I could get out of that room, a minute longer and I would've passed out from the heat or broken a leg. The cold stone of the balcony is cold under my feet and a cool breeze pushes strands of my hair away from my face. The moon is shining in the sky like a beacon, with people dancing and running through the streets and through the golden light.

Golden...

I can't help but think of Jace. It seems like I'm missing something, I could feel it the moment he left that chamber, and my chest is aching with a need to talk with him.

Maybe he's down there on the streets. Maybe he's enjoying himself, enjoying the party. He might be dancing with a girl down there. She might be beautiful and tall and willowy like Isabelle.

My heart lurches in my chest at the thought.

* * *

**There it is. (took my long enough)**

**I've been a bit busy, sorry! I've had a Christmas Carol on and I've been missing days of school, so I have to catch up and stuff and I ****_really_**** want to get through the first Heroes of Olympus book, it's just, atrjtdgmsd**

**Anyways, I'll be working on the next chapter soon, so I guess I'll see you then.**

**GOODBYE!**


	10. Thinking of You

**TWO UPDATES IN TWO DAYS? WHAT!I know, amazing right? But I had so much fun writing this chapter (except the last bit) and I simply can't wait another week!**

**ONWARDS**

* * *

He can't stand the thought of her up there, no matter how selfish. _She has the life she deserves now_, he keeps reminding himself, _stop being such a prick and be happy for her. _But he can't. He can't happy for her when her new life plan doesn't include him. His heart aches at the thought.

He isn't sure how it happened, but he_ is _sure of when he finally knew. Knew that he loved her. The night when she'd forgiven him for killing the wolf, he knew that she was the one for him, but he had already had his suspicions about her and her past. It was why he didn't want her to come with them to the castle.

And now he knows he was right from the beginning. She _is_ the lost princess. She will govern the Kingdom with King Valentine passes, and she will be expected to bring forth an heir.

His throat tightens and he has to fight back the burning behind his eyes. He can't live like this. He can't live without _her_.

Clary.

The simple sound of her name his mind is enough to make him dizzy and he almost trips as he goes towards the window and opens it wide, blasting his face with the cool night air.

Isabelle had asked him to go with her to the celebratory party for the princess's return, but of course he'd declined. Why should he pretend to be joyous for the arrival of the long lost Princess when really it is tearing him up from the inside out, like a piece of glass stuck within him.

In the distance, he can see the spires of the royal home. He can see movement within the windows and golden light pouring out the open palace door. He swears he can see a flash of red, but just as soon as it appeared, it was gone again.

She's driving him crazy.

The moon shines above him like a polished silver coin and he can't help but think about whether she is looking at the moon right now, thinking of him.

He pushes away the thought hastily, of course she isn't. She's probably chatting with the high class citizens of Idris right now, or dancing the night away with some prince who hopes to make her his Queen. Either way, she is definitely _not_ thinking of him.

And why should she?

It is not as if he has made his intentions clear. He hasn't told her his feelings towards her or how her smile resembles the soft morning sun on a summer morning, or how her eyes when she laughs are enough to make his skin crawl and his knees weak, or how her hair in the breeze reminds him of a flickering flame: small, but carrying quite a bite.

He knows she is not some soft maiden waiting to be dominated by some egotistical man. He knows she is more than that. She is strong, and fierce, and passionate and everything a Queen should be.

And he is hopelessly in love with her, which is only going to bring him pain. He considers for a moment finding a girl to spend the night with, to get her out of his head, but the thought is quickly banished from his mind. He doesn't _want_ to forget her, even if his only reminder is the pain that sticks into his heart like a sliver of ice, turning his blood cold.

The music floating through the streets sings in his ears and lures him outside. He stands in the doorway and looks on onto the people bustling about the streets.

People play music from just outside the book store across the street and set up in the middle of the honey-paved road is a table blanketed with flavoursome meats and treats.

He walks through the crowd, barely noticing the approving glances from various women, and towards the food table. Along the way, he trips over something and tumbles into a darkened corner and straight into someone. Or two someones.

Isabelle and a scrawny guy with messy brown hair and glasses stand before him, both looking rather flustered and glassy eyed.

"Isabelle? What are you doin here- oh. _Oh._" It clicks in his mind and he notices the way one of Isabelle's dress shoulders is half way down her arm and the boys glasses are askew. Askew in a very suspicious way. "Uh, I'm just gonna, yeah." He says, leaving and almost tripping again. In a way, he's sort of happy that at least someone is having their love life going their way.

That is a lie. He hopes she eats the scrawny kid alive.

O~o~O

"Seraphina?"

I turn around and see my father standing in the doorway of the balcony, his eyebrows downturned with worry.

"What are you doing out here? You'll catch your death." He says, taking me by the arm and leading me away from the stone railing.

I look once more up at the moon and wonder about Jace and how he is. Hopefully he's enjoying himself more than me. "I'm just tired is all." I answer, reluctantly glancing away from the white glare of the moon.

My father places his palm against my cheek and rubs his thumb across my cheekbone. "Go to your chambers dear, you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow." Before I can answer he leads me inside and directly into Jonathan's arms. "Jonathan, take Seraphina to her room please, she is very tired from her journey."

"I can only imagine," Jonathan answers, taking my arm and glancing down at me with black eyes. "Come, I will take you."

The moment we exit the ballroom, the heavy doors swinging shut behind us, all noise stops. It is only Jonathan and I now, our only companion his echoing footsteps, seeing as I'm barefoot. My stomach feels queasy and butterflies swirl and dive in my gut. "So, how long have you lived in Idris?"

"My whole life actually, I spend most of my time in the palace, and King Valentine has been like a second father to me since I was only small." He replies, a small smile playing across his lips.

"So you're a royal."

"What would make you think that?"

I shrug. "You said you've known my father since you were little. I assumed that meant you spent a lot of time here as a child, and somehow I doubt father would take in a commoner."

He nods, his head down. "Very observant. Yes, I am of royal blood, well, semi royal at least. My father is a Duke. It comes with it's benefits." He glances towards me as if he is letting me in on some special secret and against my will I blush.

We stop outside a familiar door and Jonathan releases my arm to push open the door for me. "M'lady," He says.

"I do wish people would stop calling me that." I reply as I enter the room.

Inside is darkness, Eleanor must have doused the candles after I left, and the only illumination comes from a small pool of pale light coming in from the balcony doorway and the yellow light from the open door.

Jonathan slips inside the door right before it closes, cutting off most of the light.

"Jonathan, what are you-?" My words are cut short when his lips clash against mine. His mouth opens mine with bruising force and I end up with my back against the wall next to the door. He practically shoves his tongue down my throat and digs his fingers into my hips and the delicate fabric of the dress. He moans into my mouth, which pulls me out of my stupor and I try to push against him.

He doesn't get the message.

I decide to take desperate measures and bite down on his bottom lip. Hard.

He pulls away immediately with a small cry of pain. He stares at me with confusion in the dark, wiping a small trickle of blood that looks black in the lack of light. We're both breathing heavily and can still feel the place where his fingers dug into the tender skin on my hips.

"You're a bit feisty, aren't you."

"_What_ do you think you're doing?" I almost shriek.

"As my future husband, I have certain privileges. Your body being one of them." He explains easily, as if it's the most natural thing in the world.

"_Privileges?!_ I am not an object, I am not something you own! And I an _certainly _not your wife, I don't love you! I don't even know who you are!"

"I've told you this," He says, exasperated. "I'm Jonathan Morgenstern."

"There is a lot more to a person than their name."

"You act as if this is something new, _surely _you are not completely ignorant of the world. You did travel with those two men for days."

My blood runs cold and my words come out deadly calm. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

He strolls over to my bed and sits on its edge, running a hand through his pale hair. "Come now Seraphina, I'm not your father, I can connect the dots. You travelled with two men for quite a while. You are a maiden, they are men with certain needs that require fulfilling-"

"Alec is my _friend_. Jace is my... friend." The word leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, but Jonathan only looks frustrated.

"You've been promised to me since I was a child, and I always get what I want." He stands up from the bed and walks slowly towards me until I can feel his hot breath against my face. "_Always._"

To my relief, a knock comes from the other side of the door, followed by Eleanor's voice.

"Princess? Your father sent me to help you out of your gown."

Jonathan sends me a cold sneer, his black eyes saying _this isn't over_, before opening the door Eleanor, his easy smile back on his face. "I was just leaving." And with that he was gone.

"Come here, I'll help-"

"Go."

Eleanor tilts her head, her brow creasing. "Pardon?"

"Just go."

Eleanor reluctantly leaves, sending me worried looks.

When the door closes and am left alone, I fall onto the bed. That is when I start crying.

* * *

**Awwww, poor little Clare-bear.**

**I know. I hate him too.**

**So, did you guys pick up in the whole swapping of POVS back there? I hope you did. I'm not sure whether I'll be swapping POVs again, but tell me whether you want me to do the whole 'Jace's POV' and 'Clary's POV' so I don't confuse you guys. Don't forget to review and all that jazz!**

**Until next time you wonderful peoples!**


End file.
